Image: Derriere L'Etoile Studios, New York
Textilmuseum St.Gallen will host a museum talk on 20 August 2026 that looks at the workings behind fashion photography, using the museum’s exhibition 'Mise en Scène' as a starting point. The event, titled 'Inszeniert – Hinter den Kulissen der Modefotografie', brings Tobias Forster into dialogue with the curator for a discussion focused on the close relationship between the Swiss textile industry and international fashion imagery.
According to the museum, Forster worked as creative director for Forster Willi / Forster Rohner from 1966 to 2007. The talk is framed not as a broad lecture on photography, but as a conversation grounded in industry memory and visual production. The museum says Forster will provide insight into how fashion was presented, staged and photographed across different periods, and into the processes that shaped those images.
The programme note also places the event in a longer historical context. It refers to the collaboration with haute couture that Forster’s father began in the 1940s, and says the discussion will trace how fashion was represented over time. Among the topics named by the museum are the procedures of historical fashion shows, the role of the photo studio, and the increasing importance of photographers such as Tom Kublin and Helmut Newton.
The museum’s website describes the talk as a behind-the-scenes look at an industry that constantly changed. It says the conversation will use concrete examples to show how a shoot was organised and why photography became a central medium for fashion. The text also links the talk to the changing nature of fashion presentations, from carefully staged studio images to more spontaneous runway photographs.
The event belongs to the wider exhibition context of 'Mise en Scène', which the museum uses to explore how fashion photography reflects not only clothing but also body images and ideas of roles. A separate August museum programme note says fashion photography can also serve as a mirror of social change and as a showcase for the Swiss textile industry, whose products were present for decades at international fashion events.
'Inszeniert – Hinter den Kulissen der Modefotografie' takes place on Thursday, 20 August 2026, from 18:00 to 19:00 at Textilmuseum St.Gallen, Vadianstrasse 2. The museum says admission to the talk is free, with only the museum entrance fee due, and that the event will be followed by an apéro and exchange. Reservations are requested.
