The show ran four times a day throughout the three-day exhibition, staged in Olympia's Grand Hall, showcasing the most creative and innovative designs from emerging and established fashion labels at the exhibition. Strange has designed this show for the last six years, but each year the challenges are different as he explains. "It's extremely fast moving. The models have to look good for both photographers - with an even balance of consistent lighting levels along the catwalk - and for the live audience consisting of major buyers, trend setters and fashionistas."
He also had to contend with the near-daylight conditions of the Great Hall's glass roof, and the black voile draping of the entrance area. The monochrome effect of the black voile meant the lighting needed a particularly skilled approach so it looked lively and bright as opposed to flat and dull juxtaposed against the heavy black backgrounds.
The 19m long runway was this year in a traditional straight line format, so above this, Bandit's crew installed an 80ft long by 30ft wide box truss, with a stretched casement ceiling to reduce the daylight glare. All the lighting fixtures were rigged off this box truss. The shiny black catwalk was lit with 11 bars of six Pars and 14 single Pars. "Although not a large amount of fixtures, the trick was to ensure that each one worked hard and was meticulously well focussed," says Strange.
At the blacked off entrance end of the runway were seven Pulsar ChromaBattens rigged vertically to a scaffold, used for some jazzy effects, to add colour and to draw people's attention to that area of the show. Because of the general high lighting levels, any effects had to be totally full-on and in the face!Strange operated each15 minute show using an Avolites Pearl 2000 console, and Bandit also supplied Avolites ART 2000 dimming.
(Lee Baldock)
