Runway shows are meant to be dramatic — the lights, the music, the crazy outfits with super high stilettos. But they’re not meant to be so dramatic that the models can’t walk down the runway.

Such was the case last week at China’s Fashion Week, when three models fell while going down the runway, all in the same show.

It was actually a miracle that some of the models remained upright in the Seccry Hu Sheguang show, considering they were wearing seven- to eight-inch platform heels.

The first fall, and probably the most dramatic, happened to a model in a red body suit with a matching shawl and platforms. Her shawl got tangled in her heels, causing her to tumble onto the runway and land on her side.

Another model all in red literally fell to her knees, but thankfully regained her composure and managed to finish her walk down the catwalk.

The last model had the most trouble. She wore a sheer dress and nude platforms, and when walking in a group catwalk, stumbled once but recovered. But then she tripped a second time and fell to one knee. It’s a good thing she saved herself, because she just missed falling off the edge of the catwalk.

Thankfully, none of the models were seriously injured, although their self-esteem might be a little bruised. But these falls have to make us wonder if fashion is going too far.

If a model can’t make it all the way down the catwalk in the outfit, should she really be wearing it? Probably not.

Designers these days are going to the extreme. The bigger, the bolder and the more complex, the better. That’s not to mention that high heels are getting higher and higher. Pretty soon, models will look like stilt walkers that perform at carnivals.

I understand that with fashion you have creative liberty, but if you’re making clothes, people should actually be able to wear them. Yes, fashion shows are all about the glitz and the glamour, but clothes are meant to be worn, not just looked at.

Avant-garde fashion is a relatively new style of design, showing traces back to only the early 1900s. For quite some time, it was considered highly controversial because it signified fashion that was ahead of its time.

Recently, we have seen more designers develop an avant-garde aesthetic and regularly see avant-garde shows at fashion week. And even more recently we have seen it making its way into everyday fashion.

If you take a walk through New York City, or any other fashion metro, you’re bound to see girls sprinting to work wearing six-inch stilettos and wearing dresses that they can’t sit down in. You’ll see blazers with fabric sticking almost a foot out from their shoulders.

This fashion really isn’t necessary. It’s all frills and thrills for no reason, and it seems silly to me why we keep on wearing any of this.

Fashion is all about how it looks, and we live in a time where anything new and innovative is celebrated. Being ahead of everyone else in the fashion world makes you a trendsetter — and everyone wants to be a trendsetter — but trading fashion for function isn’t always the best thing to do.

I personally don’t understand why you would want to wear something that restricts what you’re doing. Why can’t it just be OK to wear sweats and sneakers? It would definitely be more comfortable. And you wouldn’t be embarrassed for falling, either.

Alexis McDonell is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every week in Pulp. E-mail her at admcdone@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter at @AlexisMickD.

Published on April 7, 2014 at 1:00 am