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What Sonny Vandevelde Sees Backstage

For three decades, Belgian-Australian photographer Sonny Vandevelde has photographed the life around fashion's runways. As brands turn backstage into campaign language, his work shows the difference between access and its performance.

10 September 2026

Two models backstage in sculptural red and ivory gowns, wearing feathered and black masks as one turns toward the other

For three decades, Belgian-Australian photographer Sonny Vandevelde has mastered the art of shooting backstage. His focus is not the finished runway image. Instead, he captures models at their most relaxed and playful.

Five models crowd together backstage in embellished gowns and theatrical masks, leaning toward the camera with playful expressions

Sonny has photographed fashion weeks in Paris, Milan, London and New York. His work has appeared in titles such as Vogue, Grazia, V Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times.

His move into backstage photography happened by accident

He started out shooting documentary lifestyle images of Sydney’s nightlife. Having moved to Europe, he decided to hang out at Paris Fashion Week.

“I knew a few Belgian models, so I was just hanging out backstage at a few of the shows, camera in tow.”

He later showed the contact sheets of his backstage photos during a Marie Claire meeting. They wanted to buy the entire set.

The process behind fashion

His photography reveals the process behind fashion rather than its final spectacle. The apparent spontaneity depends on trust. In interviews, Sonny has described respecting privacy, resisting the easy celebrity shot and creating room to interact with the model.

A model in a voluminous red hat and red pleated gown throws both arms into the air between black backstage curtains

Backstage has long been part of fashion photography. What is changing is how deliberately brands turn its visual cues into campaign language. The machinery is no longer just documented. Its reveal is planned.

Backstage into front stage

Brands are turning backstage into front stage.

Balenciaga’s Fall 2026 campaign, A New York Minute, is a cinematic project directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Celine Song. It’s a film-within-a-film, intentionally pulling back the camera at the end of each shot to expose the production crew, lighting rigs, and director.

A Balenciaga campaign shoot on a rain-slicked New York street, with an actor in a pale dress facing a cinema camera and crew

As part of the campaign, Balenciaga launched the temporary Instagram account @keeppprolling for campaign material and behind-the-scenes images.

Sonny Vandevelde’s pictures come from the live relationship between photographer and subject. A brand campaign produces that sense of access through a controlled reveal. Fashion has not just discovered backstage. It has learned to make backstage part of the show.

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