The “first vertical catwalk on Burj Khalifa” was indeed vertical, but confusingly, it was not a catwalk.

As part of the month-long Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), Etoile’s La Boutique unveiled their SS14 collections on January 20 amid an invite-only crowd of international fashion bloggers, socialites and members of the media.

The event took place at the Armani Pavilion courtyard after an hour of socialising and canapes.

Aerial acrobats performed on the lower part of the Burj Khalifa above a horizontal catwalk of models at the “first vertical catwalk on Burj Khalifa” on Monday.

As part of the month-long Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), Etoile’s La Boutique unveiled their SS14 collections on January 20 amid an invite-only crowd of international fashion bloggers, socialites and members of the media.

The event took place at the Armani Pavilion courtyard after an hour of socialising and canapes.

Two women in gold bodysuits descended over the glass building on harnesses to march, spin and dance to the tune of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You just after 8pm. Their heads were thrust upwards at a near 90 degree angle to face a camera that was feeding the action live onto two ground-level screens that flanked the glossy black catwalk. A male performer followed with a more subdued, artistic display.

After the aerial performances, the first set of looks came down the horizontal runway modelled by ten women. It featured a mixture of bold, complementary colours, asymmetrical hemlines and classic-meets-metallic fabric combinations. The aerialists resumed dancing midway through so that both spectacles were happening at once.

There was a short interval between the first and second half of the runway show during which a male and female dancer climbed the building from opposite ends and met in the middle for a duo act. Particularly impressive was when the male performer held the female performer’s wire in place so she could spin freely beneath him, and when the dancers took turns swinging off the building with their arms and legs outstretched before gracefully landing back on their feet moments later.

After the second set of looks came down the runway, the acrobats closed the show by lowering red, white and green rolls of fabric in parallel lines down the front of the building, representing DSF colours. One final dancer performed with a DSF shopping bag over her shoulder, prompting both attendees and models to applaud as the show came to an end.

The designers showing their collections were Ingie Paris, Christian Dior, Prabal Gurung, Alaia, Issa, Amanda Wakeley, Raoul, Collette Dinnigan, Safiyaa, Kotur and Elizabeth & James.

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