Composing Music for a Fashion Show: Behind the Score for Annie’s Ibiza
For Annie’s Ibiza’s London Fashion Week show, I was asked to create a bespoke soundtrack that could reflect the historical references of the collection while still feeling contemporary, emotive and unmistakably connected to my own musical world.
Rather than beginning with a completely blank page, the score grew from “treading lightly”, a single from my album daybreak. I reworked the original track into a much longer, more ambient piece, reshaping it around the pacing, atmosphere and creative direction of the show.
The finished score became something distinct from the album version: slower, more spacious and designed specifically for the runway.
Reworking “treading lightly”
“treading lightly” already had its own structure and emotional identity, but the show needed music that could unfold over a much longer period. It had to support a sequence of looks, maintain a consistent atmosphere and allow the runway to breathe without becoming repetitive.
I removed all of the drums and vocals from the original track, stripping it back to its more atmospheric and harmonic elements. This created space for the music to develop more gradually and helped move it away from a conventional song structure.
I also introduced a new piano part that was not present in “treading lightly.” The piano became an important emotional element in the fashion-show score, bringing a more human and emotive quality to the extended arrangement.
Elements that moved quickly in the original version were given more space, while the transitions, textures and harmonic movement were developed to allow the score to evolve slowly throughout the show.
Responding to the Brief
The collection drew on medieval references, so the client requested that the score open with VocaMe and Michael Popp’s “IV. O virtus sapientiae.”
This piece was crucial to establishing the world of the show. Its vocal character immediately created a sense of ritual, history and drama, setting the tone before my original score entered.
The challenge was to move from this older vocal work into a contemporary electronic composition without the transition feeling abrupt or disconnected. Rather than treating the two pieces as separate tracks, I shaped the opening of my score so that it emerged naturally from the client-selected music.
For the outro, I brought “IV. O virtus sapientiae” back and blended it into my original score. This created a sense of return and gave the show a clear musical frame, with the historical reference appearing at both the beginning and end.
The score sat between those two moments, creating a bridge between the medieval inspiration of the collection and the contemporary world of Annie’s Ibiza.
Writing for the Runway
Composing for a live fashion show brings a different set of considerations from writing for a commercial or film.
There is no fixed edit to follow in the same way. The music needs to support the pace of the models, the order of the looks and the overall arc of the presentation, while remaining flexible enough to work in a live environment.
For this score, that meant avoiding changes that felt too sudden or overly tied to precise timings. Instead, the music developed through gradual shifts in texture, harmony and intensity.
Removing the drums and vocals helped create that flexibility. Without a fixed beat or vocal structure, the score could move more freely and allow the runway to dictate its sense of pace.
The new piano part also helped shape the emotional arc, adding movement and intimacy without making the score feel overly dramatic.
The ambient structure allowed individual looks to have space while keeping the show connected as a whole. The music needed to hold attention, but it could not compete with the collection. Its role was to deepen the atmosphere and help the audience enter the world of the show.
Bringing My Artist Work Into Commercial Composition
Releasing records gives me the freedom to develop an individual musical language outside of a commercial brief. When the right project arrives, that existing world can become a valuable starting point.
For Annie’s Ibiza, adapting “treading lightly” from daybreak meant the score already had an emotional foundation and a strong identity. The commercial process was about transforming it: removing the drums and vocals, opening up the arrangement, introducing piano and reshaping the structure around the runway.
That is one of the strengths of commissioning a recording artist to compose for fashion. The music comes from an established creative voice, but it can still be rebuilt around the needs of the project.
I explored this idea further in Why Electronic Music Is Shaping Modern Brand Campaigns, where I discuss how electronic music can give brands a more distinctive and emotionally flexible sonic identity.
Why Bespoke Music Matters in Fashion
Music plays a major role in how a fashion show is remembered. It controls the energy of the room, shapes the movement of the runway and influences how the collection feels in real time.
A pre-existing track can provide atmosphere, but a bespoke score can respond directly to the collection, setting and creative direction. In this case, the soundtrack was built around the show’s medieval influence, the client’s chosen opening and closing music, and the pacing of the runway itself.
The result was not simply an extended version of “treading lightly.” It became a new work created from the original: an ambient electronic score with new piano, a different structure and a completely altered rhythmic and vocal identity.
This is also why original composition can create a stronger relationship between music and image than a generic library track. I discuss this in more detail in Custom Score vs Stock Music for Commercials.
You can watch the finished project here, or view more bespoke music for fashion films, commercials and brand campaigns in my composer portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is music composed for a fashion show?
Music for a fashion show needs to support the pacing, atmosphere and identity of the collection. Unlike music written to a fixed film edit, a runway score often needs longer, more flexible structures that can develop gradually throughout a live presentation.
Can an existing song be adapted for a runway show?
Yes. An existing track can be extended, rearranged and reworked around the creative brief. For Annie’s Ibiza, I transformed “treading lightly” from my album daybreak by removing the drums and vocals, adding a new piano part and restructuring it into a longer ambient score.
Why use bespoke music for a fashion show?
Bespoke music can be shaped around the collection, venue, pacing and creative direction. This helps the soundtrack feel like part of the show’s identity rather than a separate track placed over it.