The off-site shows included Mulberry, Julien Macdonald, Temperley, Emilio de la Morena, Hardy Amies, Rocksander and others, all staged in an assortment of venues from Claridges Hotel to the British Museum atrium - engaging Gray and his team in a relentless week of activity - utilising four main lighting rental supplies - Neg Earth, Panalux, Shok London and White Light and over 50 crew.
Gray brought his own style and creative edge to the proceedings, together with his very individual approach of treating each space as a special environment into which the lighting and production should blend and harmonise.
For the BFC Tent at Somerset House, Gray lit all the shows, so a production lighting rig of 180 Source Four profiles was provided, with standard overhead positions and front cover. A miscellany of specials were brought in for specific shows including Mark Fast, Jaeger, Daks and Mario Schwab, and additional lighting was also needed for highlighting the set and scenics on some shows.
Renegade purchased a new Chamsys MQ100 Pro lighting console for the event, which was used in the BFC space, operated by Paulus van Heijkant, which is now added to their fast expanding inventory of control consoles in which Chamsys features prominently.
The back wall was lit with a bank of 18 Svoboda battens, which made a big statement and also provided an even tungsten blast of light perfectly matched with the quality of tungsten from the Source Fours.
For the reception area at Somerset House, the design involved many discreet structural elements on to which lights could be hung, including special tubes that spanned the roof beams onto which Gray introduced over 120 different sized and shaped vintage lightbulbs in a festoon arrangement. They introduced a cheeky, interesting quirkiness to the space.
Another rig was installed in the Portico Rooms for smaller events, and throughout the week this had to be switched between tungsten and daylight rigs several times, a time consuming but highly effective exercise. The Reception Areas and the Seaman's Waiting Hall were also lit as part of Renegade's brief. All lighting fixtures for the BFC areas were supplied by Neg Earth, a regular Renegade supplier.
Moving offsite, Nick Gray enjoyed one of his busiest LFWs to date, as his innovative work and approach further permeates the genre of fashion lighting, all triggering a buzz of activity and a massive logistical planning operation.
New for Gray and Renegade this season was the Emilio de la Morena show at the newly refurbished Corinthia Hotel, the first event to be staged in the ballroom of this venue, complete with an airy atmospheric blend of elegance and modernism.
Gray and his team - Panalux supplied the kit - installed a U-shaped truss hung on 8 concealed 1 tonne house rigging points, which was above a U-shaped runway, with over 100 Source Fours. The show was operated by Chris Fyfe using one of Renegade's Chamsys Maxi Wings.
Fashion East was staged in the Haunch of Venison gallery - part of the Royal Academy Buildings - where the catwalk spanned two rooms and was centred to the current collection of priceless artworks hanging on the walls.
Gray's design consisted of upright white powder coated trusses and scaffolding, including a front truss array to cover photography positions, and chrome fixtures, which juxtaposed tastefully with the space.
Hardy Amies scaled up from last time with a larger show at the 1 Mayfair venue, where Gray used variable lensed Source Fours, arranged on a double-stacked front array giving two levels of light, with the runway lights rigged off side bars all the way round the room. Again, this was a White Light supply.
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