Stepping to the Beat: 6 Denver Fashion Week Designers On Choosing Runway Music

I think music is crucial to a successful runway show, along with matching visuals for the music. Music and visuals create a fully immersive experience for the audience and help tie the outfits to an overall vision.

Personally, music is a huge influence and contributor to my creative process. I draw most of the inspiration for my outfits from music. Certain songs make me imagine certain outfits and scenarios in my head along with an overall vision. For this show specifically, I knew all of the music that I was going to use for the show before I had any of the outfits planned. I then started to listen to the mix and imagined what the show would look like.

I ultimately decide my music by figuring out what really scratches my brain. I had the first song of my show figured out a long time ago, but I couldn’t figure out what I wanted for the other songs. I kept listening to new music, old music, weird music and anything else that I thought would scratch that itch in my brain until I found the perfect songs.

All I’ll say about my song choices is that “Not All That Glitters Is Gold.”

RabbitJax Clothing is highly inspired by music and the feelings of empowerment, individuality, and freedom of expression that come from listening to your favorite music. We believe it is a very important piece to a successful runway and getting your story to translate.

Music isn’t the main driver behind designing the clothing, but it is a major factor for the collection as a whole. While designing listening to the right music keeps everything on the same page. As artists, we want to create everything we imagine but I think music helps as a guide for keeping the same storyline running throughout the entire collection.

Choosing the best music for my runway shows is always a fun yet stressful thing to do! I ultimately choose the music/song that best fits the emotion and story of my collection (including the lyrics to the song) as well as the spirit of RabbitJax as a brand. For example, you will rarely see a RabbitJax collection being shown using a ballad, slow song, or something without words because as a brand RabbitJax Clothing wants to be a good source of inspiration and the power of positivity when dream chasing.

This season I have chosen to use songs by Olivia Rodrigo starting with “Bad Idea Right?” I chose this because it isn’t a light pop genre song, it’s a kind of song that has a rock element to it but still has the same energy and movement as a pop song.

The other song choices are by the same artist, but let’s keep it a secret story for the show to tell!

How important would you say is music to a successful runway? 

Music is a crucial component of a runway segment through and through. It pulls the line together, brings confidence to the models, and engages the audience after you press play. 

When does music come into the equation? Do you think about it when designing or is it something that comes later?

I have a Spotify playlist labeled as “runway music” that I’ve been slowly compiling over the last year because why not? I like to have this on hand for shows, and I prefer not to repeat the same song choices. I put my music together (with the technical help of my partner, Ryan) long before this clothing line was finished. I knew from the jump that I wanted 20 models, so I was excited to make a fun, lengthy track.

How do you ultimately choose the music for your runways? 

It’s all about feel! If the song makes you want to strut, it’s a good start (specifically around 125 BPM lol). I like to choose songs that fall into the EDM genre due to the upbeat energy and focus on crowd involvement. I also try not to pick anything too repetitive or annoying, with dynamic swells throughout. After that, I walk it out to get the feel — even though I’m much shorter than my models and look much more awkward. It’s the most exciting thing in the world when it comes together on show night.

Would you like to tell us what music you have chosen or would you like to keep it a surprise?

I am a very music-driven designer and find that music is very important to a successful runway. It helps convey the story I am trying to express on the runway as well as leading up to the show. It helps inspire my designs and how I want to move forward with the feel of the runway itself.

More often than not I usually design based around music. I am highly influenced and inspired by music and it’s almost always one of the first things that comes together for my runway shows. I will continue to revisit my music throughout the design process to determine if it still fits, but also to keep inspired.

I usually hear the music and know that’s what I want to use, in some cases if I am unsure of what I want to use I tend to listen to music that I find inspiring and fitting for the collection. In the case of this collection, I heard the song I will be using for the runway and then started designing my collection. I always want my music to help tell the story that my collection represents.

I tend to keep my music like my collections a surprise with sneak peeks leading up to the show. I will say I was heavily influenced by the music of Lainey Wilson for this collection and one of her songs will be used for the runway.

How important would you say is music to a successful runway? 

The runway music is the icing on the cake, for me. After putting all of the ingredients together over the past several months, when it’s all mixed, baked, and cooled in the lab, the icing seals the deal.

When does music come into the equation? Do you think about it when designing or is it something that comes later?

The music surfaces for me once I’ve seen the collection come alive with the first few completed pieces. It’s magical.

How do you ultimately choose the music for your runways? 

I choose the music based on the response I want from the attendees. In this particular case, I desire calmness in the room to invoke focus in the room.

Would you like to tell us what music you have chosen or would you like to keep it a surprise? 

I chose “The Downton Abbey Suite” by Jartisto. The most prominent instrument is the piano, which immediately grabs your attention, yet allows the listener to focus on the designs while being soothed by the classical piano.