The first was in Manchester for Marks & Spencer. The 4-day in-store show took place at the flagship outlet in Manchester's Arndale Centre. Darren Parker designed, supplied and operated the lights which included Martin Mac 250 moving lights and an Avolites Pearl console. The fixtures were located on the floor and used to light the catwalk, the ceiling above it and the set behind.
For Wallis & Evans at The Business Design Centre in Islington, the design featured a larger lighting rig, supplied by DPL and designed by Seb Williams. Lighting fixtures included eight MAC 250s, four MAC 500s, 8 High End Studio Beam PCs, a bunch of generics and a radio DMX control system to circumvent some difficult cable runs. Lighting for the main area was operated 'live' for the two days of shows by Seb using a Wholehog II console.
The room was divided into three other sections aside from the main area - used for displays, conferencing, corporate bonding and team-building sessions, lectures and showing off the upcoming Christmas displays. These satellite areas were lit with Pulsar ChromaBank LED fixtures, also supplied by DPL, controlled separately by an Avo Pearl 2000.
Having just loaded out of Islington, DPL were loading in again, this time to Bluewater for the famous retail centre's own Fashion Week event. This involved three shows a day for three days, and was a ticketed event that proved a huge success with the public. Dozens of fashion retailers at Bluewater were involved, and eighty per cent of the profits were donated to the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer charity, run by former Clothes Show presenter Caryn Franklin.
Lighting design was by Darren Parker. He used lots of conventional fixtures to back-light and up-light the set and the room, which was entirely dressed in white muslin, and proved a beautiful and absorbing lighting surface. Above the catwalk, Parker located eight truss-mounted MAC 250s to pick out the models as they cruised up and down, showing off the latest and grooviest off-the-peg creations available at Bluewater.
DPL also supplied two Golden Scan HPEs used to swirl the Bluewater logo around the space. Parker operated the show using an Avolites Pearl and commented that it looked "absolutely stonking!"
(Lee Baldock)
