France - Ayrton, which has recently undergone a major expansion of its headquarters in Villebon-Sur-Yvette, south of Paris, showcased its new showroom and immersive museum with a series of events in November.
Over a two-week period, four events saw over 450 international guests, distributors, partners and lighting designers gather to immerse themselves in designs, innovative lighting solutions, and a world of creativity to inspire their next projects.
The new 1,200m2 x 8.5m high wide-format demonstration room, complete with luxurious theatre seating, provided the ideal forum to discover all of Ayrton’s products, while the immersive museum showcases the luminaires that have made Ayrton’s history. Guests were treated to cocktail receptions and dinner in the breakout rooms at every event which gave ample opportunity to network, ask questions and make connections while exploring the new showroom, museum and customer hospitality areas.
On 12-13 November, the first to see the new developments was a delegation from Japanese entertainment association, the National Stage and Television Lighting Business Cooperative Association, who received a tour of the new facilities and experienced the new light show designed by long-time Ayrton collaborator, Stephane Migné, and programmed by Willy Heilmann. The delegates were also treated to a presentation from French lighting designer Dimitri Vassiliu whose lighting credits include Adam+Eve, Pascal Obispo, Calogero, Zazie, Johnny Hallyday and Mylène Farmer. The following day saw the delegation visit a number of French lighting and rental companies in the company of Ayrton.
The showroom, museum and new customer facilities received their official inauguration on the evening of 14 November, with over 200 guests from all over France visiting the new space and witnessing the lightshow which ran every 30 minutes. Ayrton distributors have full access to the new dedicated space and are encouraged to bring their own customers for product demonstrations at any time.
Less than a week later on 20 November, Ayrton hosted the Women In Entertainment Lighting Sessions 2024. Women In Lighting is a digital platform that profiles women working in the field of lighting design. Ayrton has been a staunch supporter for several years with a remit to spread the word across entertainment lighting, and this is the third time Ayrton as hosted the annual gathering.
More than 80 women in lighting and supporters attended to hear four inspirational women speakers deliver presentations on their work with light: Christina Thanasoula (Greece) spoke about her lighting designs for outdoor theatre; Clara Daguin (France) of her work with light and fashion; Clementine Fletcher-Smith (UK) on light and architecture; and Lauren King (USA) on the world of rock and roll. The day was rounded off with an exclusive book launch of Collected Light Volume Three: Women in Entertainment Lighting with all 65 global contributors invited to Paris by Ayrton.
The following day, the final day of celebration, saw Ayrton Partners from all over the world gather at the new facilities with over 120 guests witnessing the latest product releases, and being treated to inspirational talks from German light artist, Christopher Bauder, from WHITEvoid whose credits include the spectacular Axion and Dialogue installations, and – as a terrific surprise for all - Paralympic triple gold medallist and double world champion, the para-cyclist Mathieu Bosredon who delivered some sparkling moments of inspiration, dedication and triumph against all odds to round off the day.
“Our new home is amazing!” says Ayrton CEO, Chris Ferrante. “The last two weeks have been really intense and with four properly global events under our belt. This new space is also a fitting tribute to the ever creative and boundary-pushing mind that is our founder and CTO, Yvan Peard! Our new space is perfect to show our partners and designers the real capabilities of our world-leading line of products.”
