Redrum Runways - How Horror has influenced Fashion

By Hannah Schmidt-Rees

It’s no surprise that films have always and will continue to influence fashion. From McQueen’s Givenchy Fall 1998 Couture collection being inspired by Blade Runner to Undercover’s Fall 19 Menswear collection referencing A Clockwork Orange, the film work that fashion designers consume will obviously serve as inspiration for their creative work. 

Whilst cult classics and sci-fi are common on the runway, a genre that is often highlighted is horror.  From victorian films creating horror’s most well-known stories to 80s cult classics, horror has become a staple for fashion designers. Unlike other movie genres, horror is responsible for the most iconic characters and visual motifs of our popular culture. Even the majority of our oldest fictional stories are horror in theme (like Dracula and Frankenstein), so it’s surprise that horror becomes a muse for fashion designers to create visually striking and horrifyingly immersive and storytelling runways. Here’s just a few examples of horror’s influence on the runway:

Alexander McQueen’s 1996 Spring collection, named ‘The Hunger’ is based off the horror erotic vampire film of the same name, released in 1983 (which also stars David Bowie, so I definitely recommend giving it watch). Adding bondage straps and an excessive use of blood red, McQueen used horror to break boundaries and shock the audience, even showing a model in a see-through bustier filled with worms. 

The Blonds 2013 Fall Ready-to-Wear collection reference multiple horror themes, including The Shining, Psycho and other horror tropes; knives, bandages and blood. 

Rick Owens 2016 Fall Men’s collection explored gothic visuals (as common with Owen’s brand) but the makeup references the mask made popular by the 1978 film Halloween. In addition the makeup also references the 1960 French-Italian film Without a Face (in which a doctor tries to steal young women’s faces to help his disfigured daughter.

Thom Browne’s 2019 Spring Ready-to-Wear collection featured masked that bear resemblance to Jason Voorhees’ mask used in the 1980 film Friday the 13th, as well as Dr. Hannibal’s mask in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. 

Both of Prada’s womenswear and menswear 2019 Fall collections reference the story of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, putting romance and horror together with lace, flowers and glitter contrasting from intense black tones gothic utilitarian details.

The Shining was further referenced in Undercover’s 2018 Spring Ready-to-Wear collection, as every model walked down the runway with a twin, especially the final two models who wore babydoll dresses with fringes of red crystal resembling blood.

Perhaps the most full on reference is Moschino’s 2020 Resort collection, which is an all-out Halloween and horror funfest. Placed in a film set mirroring the neighbourhood from the 1978 film Halloween, every model is a reference to a horror icon; Frankenstein, mummies, vampires and much more.

Another example of the influence of horror in fashion is shown in my own work. For a university assignment, I needed to create a fashion brand based on a denim trend.  Choosing the up cycling denim trend, I found the visual patchwork nature of the trend incredibly unique, and my mind immediately went to the horror classic; Frankenstein. Sewing different denim garments together like body parts and focusing on gothic ideas of mortality, I created a photoshoot featuring my denim garments with the Frankenstein theming. Have a look below but be careful, it’s alive.

(Images taken by @art.byemilia on Instagram)