From Prada to Dior, European fashion shows have been distinguished for their taste of performance on the runway. Chanel elevated that theatricality in their Fall/Winter ’14 Ready-to-Wear show, where models strutted through a Chanel Shopping Market. There, models carried bedazzled shopping baskets and browsed through aisles filled with shelves of “Tweed Cola” and Chanel egg cartons. Similarly, Alexander McQueen was known for his theatricality on the runway. In various shows, McQueen walked models down the runway with wolves, mechanically spraypainted a model-turned-canvas live on the stage, reenacted dance scenes such as “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They,” and had models imitate the motions of a chess match under a checkerboard design light.

American fashion has finally caught on to a longstanding trend, one familiar to countless European designers whose performances capture the runway.

Opening Ceremony took drama quite literally, with a 30-minute play about New York Fashion Week. Titled “100% Lost Cotton,” the play was co-written by Spike Jonze and Jonah Hill, directed by Jonze and starred Elle Fanning, John Cameron Mitchell, Rashida Jones and Karlie Kloss, among numerous other models that lined the stage. While the play itself was a satire, the entire ordeal remained a fashion show. The stars donned Opening Ceremony’s Spring/Summer ’15 line, and actors including Kloss and Fanning even strutted across the runway.

Ralph Lauren also found inspiration in performance. Utilizing technology in the Spring/Summer ’15 show to create a 4-D hologram, the collection was projected off of a lake in Central Park’s Cherry Hill. Larger-than-life models walked down moving pictures of New York City scenery for the duration of the show. This performance quite naturally incorporated a modern advance in technology into the equally evolving world of modern fashion.

Along with others, Marc Jacobs is no stranger to theatricality in Fashion Week. One of the first American designers to adopt this exaggerated, performative runway show, Jacobs became notable for an exceptional runway after his Spring/Summer ’07 show, where models walked down a grassy pathway elevated over a river of candies, filled with a background of rolling hills that gave the room an English countryside feel.

More recently, Jacobs’ Fall/Winter ’14 line featured Jessica Lange, whose smooth, cool voice narrated the show titled “Happy Days Are Here Again,” where models walked through a dark room filled with countless off-white clouds that hung from the ceiling. This season, Jacobs presented his Spring/Summer ’15 collection with a new twist: headphones. Each audience member, from Anna Wintour to André Leon Talley, wore Beats by Dre that played a robotic voice — inspired by John Smith’s short film from 1976, “The Girl Chewed Gum” — that described the models’ actions and clothing as they passed by sections of the audience.

With designers like Marc Jacobs and Opening Ceremony taking this performance aspect quite literally, it is likely that theatricality on the runway will be further embraced in seasons to come.

A version of this article appeared in the Wednesday, Sept. 24 print edition. Email Jennifer Neufeld at [email protected].