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The Silent Treatment: It used to be that, when things went well, the end of a Toronto runway show would be scored by the roar of applause. Catwalk finales have become increasingly silent over the past few seasons, however, as the hands in the crowd are busy raising tablets and smartphones to shoot and post the scene. Pity the designer who has to bow to a muted room and wait by his Instagram account for kudos.JENNA MARIE WAKANI/The Globe and Mail

1998

Inspired by artist Rebecca Horn's installation of two shotguns firing red paint at each other, Alexander McQueen adds two industrial robots to his Spring 1999 runway. As model Shalom Harlow paused dramatically on a slowly spinning turntable, the robotic duo sprayed her white cotton muslin dress with black and yellow paint, an experience she later described as "aggressively sexual."

2006

Known for his avant-garde, award-winning creations beloved by the likes of Björk and Lady Gaga, British designer Hussein Chalayan crafts morphing ensembles for his Spring 2007 collection, a dream come true for fashion chameleons. The pieces twitch to life on the runway, transforming into entirely new dresses via a computer system hiding beneath each model's skirt.

2009

Fashion business bible Women's Wear Daily declares 2009 as the year of social media. At the Dolce & Gabbana presentation in Milan, a cohort of first-gen fashion bloggers including Bryanboy and Canadian Tommy Ton are given front row seats and desks for their laptops, relegating regulars from retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus to (gasp!) the second row.

2010

An early adopter of tech gimmicks (it recently promoted a new men's fragrance on Snapchat), London-based Burberry is the first fashion house to livestream a runway presentation to a worldwide audience. Anyone with a high-speed Internet connection can access the celeb-filled front row from the comfort of their own bedroom without worrying about putting together a paparazzi-friendly ensemble.

2012

One-time partners in fashion e-reportage and life, Garance Doré and The Sartorialist's Scott Schuman become the first bloggers to win the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Media Award. As pioneers in the powerful market force known as street style, recognition from the fashion establishment signals a shift from runway dominance to real-world democratization that continues to hold the industry's attention.

2012

The short-lived Google Glass project captures the complete runway experience at Diane von Furstenberg's presentation as models, hairstylists and the designer herself wears the droid-like headsets backstage and on the catwalk, giving observers a unique point of view. The wearable tech industry goes on to offer more compelling fashion collaborations, most notably Hermès' straps for the Apple Watch.

2015

With show attendees snapping every look for Instagram, New York-based designer Misha Nonoo scraps the runway format altogether. Inspired by a visit to the social media giant's headquarters, she creates a photo-based

presentation formatted for the platform, exploiting Instagram's fashion-friendly nature.

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