Annually, NYFW: The Shows, owned and produced by IMG Studios and the Council of Fashion Designers (CFDA), is attended by more than 230,000 visitors during the months of February and September in locations throughout New York City. From its longstanding headquarters at Spring Studios in Tribeca, the Spring/Summer 2024 collections ran from September 8-13 and featured designers such as Sergio Hudson; Studio 189, a social enterprise that provides a platform to help promote and curate African fashion; and luxury apparel brand, THE BLONDS. In addition to the runway shows, Spring Studios hosted presentations, activations, and exclusive parties for fashion brands and event attendees.
As they have since 2015, PRG was delighted to provide lighting equipment and production services to IMG, an American sports, events, and talent management company, and its production agency, FOCUS, for the week-long fashion extravaganza. Over 5 days, PRG provided support for a total of 25 distinctive runway shows on multiple floors of the venue. Each show took on the unique energy and vibe of the fashion designers’ concept and vision for their Spring/Summer 2024 collections.
One of the solutions that PRG provided to respond to the limited amount of load-in time and the fast turnaround between shows, was to pre-rig the lighting in truss offsite, prior to delivery at the venue. This not only led to quicker setup and reduced the on-site labor requirement, but it also allowed equipment to be quickly and easily re-configured between shows to accommodate different runway or venue setups. “We work with the lighting and production team on quick-paced, fast turnaround times, with many moving parts. Between the vendor activations and pop-up talks, filming interviews in various locations throughout the building, and then dinners or private viewing parties in the Spring Studios restaurant, PRG accommodates whatever needs arise accordingly”, said Pete Harrison, VP, PRG Market Operations.
Over the years, fashion designers have transformed traditional runway shows into theatrical events, incorporating sophisticated lighting designs, leading to visually inspirational experiences. Behind the scenes creating this visual magic is Lighting Designer Florian Schreiter, who designed the lighting for most the events at Spring Studios.
Designing for multiple runway shows and events, each with its own theme, concept, and layout, is challenging enough, but that’s compounded by the limited time between shows, usually less than 2 hours. In that time, fixtures need to be moved or re-focused and re-programmed to achieve each designer’s exclusive look, mood, and ambiance. Another challenge for Schreiter is to find the perfect balance of lighting equipment with precise focus and sufficient brightness for professional fashion photography, streaming, and the live audience. PRG assists with this by carefully measuring the color temperature and intensity of every fixture and ensuring that they all match within five degrees of each other.
Schreiter’s design for Fashion Week included over 150 automated fixtures, with the foundation being the Clay Paky Scenius Unico, which he chose for its color consistency, brightness, and framing. In addition, Schreiter used Robe BMFL Blades for front lighting and ARRI SkyPanels to light the back wall. After another hectic but successful NYFW, Schreiter said, “You need a solid and experienced crew working together with you. PRG’s excellent customer service and the quality of their gear and staff make them a valued and valuable partner for me.”
Beyond runway shows, PRG also supported brand activations in the space, like the launch of TRESemmé’s immersive experience, ‘TRESemme Style Studios’ – a takeover of the Spring Studios ground floor where guests could show off their personal style in an interactive space while sipping cocktails as they watch LIVE shows from the runways and experiment with new hair looks with the featured TRESemmé AR tool.
In addition, PRG provided lighting and support to the highly anticipated NYFW: The Talks, IMG’s series of conversations that featured fashion industry thought leaders. One of the most popular was a conversation about the new 4-part Apple TV+ documentary series, The Super Models, which was moderated by IMG and model and entrepreneur, Ashley Graham.
NYFW Autumn/Winter will take place from February 9-11, 2024.