House of Fraser wanted to create a Spring/Summer 2008 press event to establish their recently enhanced image in the minds of the media and provide an appropriate setting for the 2008 collections. Burlington Gardens at London's Royal Academy was chosen as the venue and Event Concept was appointed to work with the store's visual marketing team to create the setting for the event.
Working closely with the House of Fraser team, Event Concept created an engaging route through eight adjoining rooms which previewed the Womenswear, Menswear, Homeware, Childrenswear and Beauty collections before guests took their seats by the catwalk for a first glimpse of House of Fraser's new Spring collections.
Each preview room was designed to reveal the collections in completely different settings and to set an expectation for the fashion show to come. Guests entered through a bronze, mirrored corridor to see a spectacular pyramid of mannequins set against a mirrored back-drop. As they walked through the network of adjoining rooms, they experienced a Manhattan cityscape with brownstone walls and weathered railings; a tropical paradise with decking, a bridge, palm trees and a romantic sunset; and a beautiful family home finished with the scent of fresh linen.
Describing the design, Event Concept's Adam Wright said: "We treated each room as a separate event. We wanted to hold attention the whole way through and achieve different effects using lighting, sounds, materials and smells. The visual marketing team presented each collection in ways which allowed guests to touch and feel the items as they passed through - we wanted to create a very sensory environment."
The event had a number of technical considerations. Wright said: "There was little or no natural light in the rooms which gave us a blank canvas for the lighting design. Being able to work from scratch gave us so many design options, although we chose very natural colours to create morning, afternoon and evening effects. We took our lead from the brand's simple and clean visuals. To bring the spaces to life, we used colour-changing lights to alter the mood or change the 'time of day'."
(Claire Beeson)
