Etienne Russo has produced so many fashion shows that he has no idea exactly what number. He says: “It must be maybe 1,200 or 1,300. I used to count them, but then it became too many to count.
” One number he does now for certain is how many shows he’s produced for Dries Van Noten: . That’s every show Van Noten has ever presented. And this Saturday night, Russo will have the bittersweet task of working with the designer on show 130–a milestone moment that will also mark Van Noten’s final appearance on his runway.
After he has taken that last bow, Van Noten will remain with his eponymous brand as an adviser, but from a distance. His famous garden is beckoning. Russo first met Van Noten back in the 1980s when his was emerging as part of the Antwerp Six.
Russo, a former chef, had been a model for designers including Walter Van Beirendonck before he began working in sales and event production for Van Noten’s emerging brand. And then, when the time came for Van Noten to present his first-ever fashion show in Paris, he asked Russo to put it together. Back then, for that first show, Russo was effectively a one man band.
Once established, however, he founded Villa Eugénie, which is today one of fashion’s pre-eminent show shapers and has around 120 employees. Key clients (Noten apart), include Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior. In advance of Saturday’s last Van Noten show—will there be a dry eye in the house?—we sat down with Russo.
He shared his memories of what .