Runway to the streets

From the Runway to the Streets is a guerrilla performance that reimagines fashion as a collective public experience. During Paris Fashion Week, Gabrielle Venguer gathered a group of strangers she met across the city to transform the streets into an open runway, accompanied by live saxophone and a 30-meter felt dress that unfolded into a walkable runway.

Moving through iconic locations including Palais Royal and Place Vendôme, the performance challenged the exclusivity of fashion by replacing invited guests with passersby, chance encounters, and spontaneous participation. What began as an artistic intervention became a temporary community, proving that fashion can exist beyond institutions; on the streets, between strangers, and in shared moments of play, risk, and connection.

Following the experience in Paris, Venguer expanded the project to Mexico City with a large-scale public performance outside the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Bringing together dancers, choreographers, musicians, and performers, the work continued to explore fashion as a participatory practice; one that belongs not only on the runway, but in public space, where it can foster dialogue, collective action, and unexpected encounters.