Behind the scenes

Pioneering production company Bureau Betak has masterminded some of the most inspiring runway sets of the last 30 years, dazzling both real-life guests and an ever-growing virtual global audience

- HUGO MACDONALD

Amid the heady hedonism of the 1990s, fashion shows transcended from industry showcases to cultural touchstones. Designers became celebrities. Models became super. Fashion houses became global luxury brands. The fashion show, catapulted into mainstream culture thanks to the rapid advance of technology, was a powerful catalyst for image creation and dissemination. Against this backdrop, Alexandre de Betak founded his Paris-based production company Bureau Betak. Over three decades, he revolutionised the very concept of fashion communication.

Alexandre de Betak stepped away from Bureau Betak three years ago. The company is now co-helmed by Bénédicte Fournier Beckmann, Paco Raynal and Guillaume Troncy, and it’s very much business as usual (in so far as this business is ever quotidian). ‘We work as a collective with strong creative and production teams everywhere, made stronger by our shared experience,’ says Fournier Beckmann. For our interview, it’s fitting that the trio are beamed by a screen from their Parisian offices. A fashion show today is experienced live by a 1,000-or-so people, but it is devoured by millions virtually, via a plethora of media platforms and posts.