The fashion shows in fashion weeks are huge media events meant to broadcast the designers’ products and the newest trends. The front row is reserved for most elite fashion editors and super celebrities – who maximise the publicity. The presence of Victoria Beckham, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow gets those pictures out.

In front of the catwalk lies an army of photographers – in the biggest shows up to 300 or 400 photographers may be in attendance. This mass of photographers literally runs from one show to another during the fashion weeks.

Leena Aro has her own place in the army of photographers. She shoots the fashion shows at the Milan, Paris, London and New York fashion weeks. Aro photographs more than 400 fashion shows a year, which means that she has to handle an astonishing 65,000–70,000 fashion show photographs every year. Her photos are published in fashion magazines and newspapers in Finland, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The difficulty of getting in

Leena Aro was trained to be a shoe engineer, and still does public relations and teaching in the field. The shoe engineer Aro ended up in Paris – nearly by accident – to shoot a top designer’s breathtaking fashion show in 1982. The show taught her that the latest fashion is actually created in the fashion shows held by the best fashion houses; the big names show and the others copy.

Teaching herself was a necessity, because there aren’t schools or training programmes for fashion show photography. “Shooting fashion shows requires tremendous speed from the camera and persistence and the ability to use one’s elbows from the photographer. The work is sweaty and tiring – running from one show to another from dust till dawn and dragging the equipment with you. It’s kind of a workout from dusk till dawn twice a year.”

”The most difficult thing about shooting the shows is to get into the show venue. When you’re in, you’re fine, if you just know how to use your camera,” she says with a smile. “You have to register in advance. Still you might not get in unless you shoot for some Chinese or Middle European magazine.”

Ideal conditions for shooting

Fashion show photography is challenging because the photographer is purely at the mercy of circumstances. Even evaluating the conditions can only be done at the venue, never in advance.
Nevertheless, the venue and the lighting of the shows have been set up with the photographers in mind. “Often the background is like one giant spotlight, like at the Chanel show at the Grand Palais in Paris,” Aro describes.

“If the catwalk, background and the clothes are dark and the lighting very shadowy, the photographers have to use a flash. If the light is uneven, the photographers often reproach the show organisers for it. Luckily the lights are often tested and the models practice on the catwalk before the show, which also allows the photographers to check the lighting and their own equipment.”

Fashion overdose

”If the clothes are really cool, the photographers will find time to look at them during the show,” Aro says. “If the collection consists of some boring little black dresses, the photographers will follow the celebrities in the audience and the reactions of the audience instead of the clothes.”
“If the models come forward really fast, the photographers are very busy shooting everything, the model, bags and shoes. Then they just don’t have time to follow the audience.”

“Sometimes the photographers are really tired and numb even after only four days of shooting. They might ask each other questions like ‘Which show did we shoot this morning?’” Aro laughs. “You don’t remember the show you just came from when your brain is already working on the next one.”

Leena Aro says her favourite designer is Jean Paul Gaultier and adds that his shows are fun and hilarious. Clothes do interest her, but she admits that she usually stays out of clothing shops for a couple of weeks after the fireworks of the fashion weeks.

No wonder – seeing and shooting more than 200 shows and handling about 35,000 fashion show photographs each season will definitely satisfy any fashion freak’s hunger.

---

Making fun of Paris Hilton

The fashion show photographers have a ringside seat on the latest fashion, but also on what happens on the front row of the shows. To tell the truth – there are many sizzling stories and rumours about the super celebrities.

Paris Hilton unintentionally entertained the photographers at the New York fashion week last September. “Paris attended the shows with her boyfriend, who had layers of makeup and two pigtails. When the couple saw a camera or a flashlight even somewhere far off, both of them lit up flirting, with wide and very artificial smiles which were pointed in the direction of the flashbulbs,” Aro recalls.

“When the show began, Paris took a mirror from her bag and continued the sugary, flirting smile – to herself. After she put the mirror back to her little bag, she began to admire her own hands regardless of what happened on the catwalk,” she laughs. “Paris must be the biggest narcissist in the world!”