For a short mockumentary to catch fire online, it has to straddle the line between reality and fiction. And Lord knows no real-life institution flirts with the surreal quite as routinely as the fashion world. That's why, when commissioned by Grey Worldwide to create something with viral potential for grooming company Remington, The Viral Factory, Los Angeles turned its focus to the runway.

Directed by James Rouse and The Viral Factory, the three-minute long "Fashion Show" is a behind-the-scenes look at the spring/summer show from vanguard (and wholly fictitious) designer Stefane Monzön. It opens with a few models offering soundbite testimonials to his greatness, followed by proof of exactly what it is that makes Monzön so 'visionary': turns out he's not concerned with clothes so much as he is with sculpting his models' short and curlies into imposing works of art. One poor model hits the runway with hers brushed out like a horse's mane. Another - dubbed 'The Icarus' - sports wings that "will literally blow air onto you when she walks". It's a completely over-the-top conceit, but it's presented in such a natural documentary style that it doesn't look entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially given the subject matter.

The first official production from The Viral Factory's Santa Monica office, the piece translates well partly because half the people in it weren't aware it was a joke. "We got an actor to play the designer, and obviously all the girls knew, but the audience was just people coming along for an interesting night out, so it was really nerve-wracking," says Viral Factory LA director of special operations, Henry Cowling. "We wanted to give the impression that the whole thing was real and the outfits were real. There was no telling how it was going to go down with the crowd. Someone could have got angry and a riot could have broken out for all we knew."

The Viral Factory> http://www.theviralfactory.com