influences fashion Fashionable design Admir Jukanovic reveals how spectacular lighting design has helped launch the collections of world-famous fashion designers

show at the Pitti Immagine Uomo fair in Florence in 2007.” Holographic, computer animations of deep-sea creatures were cast on stage-side, see-through plastic screens and interacted with the poses and movements of the models. “There were screens on either side of the catwalk, so both sides of the audience had the same experience. The holograms were projected from above onto the screens, which were themselves set at an angle to give the images a three-dimensional quality. But the most challenging thing

from a lighting point of view was to make sure the models Chalayan Hussein Moore/Courtesy Chris Photo: Galliano John Courtesy Artists Visual United Courtesy and their clothes could still be seen clearly. They had to set Dressed light Hussein Chalayan put LEDs on the Tunnel of light Lasers formed a turquoise tunnel Their light materials UVA projected abstract lights from various angles so the models didn’t appear flat, surface of dresses in his Airborne collection through which John Galliano’s models walked patterns on Hamish Morrow’s collection while at the same time controlling the light so there was no extra falling on the screens or casting shadows.” Although not as technologically innovative, the lighting vision of architecture in a very particular way, to emphasise along the rails. The linears really draw you into that space. for the presentation of John Galliano’s winter collection in what the architect really wanted to do with the building.” It was an exciting space by Munkenbeck and Marshall, but 2009, staged at Paris fashion week, was similarly spectacular. Another area in which fashion lighting design and with our lighting design it really gained another perspective, Courtesy Dvein Motion & Interactive Design Interactive & Motion Dvein Courtesy “Galliano took the inspiration for the collection from his architectural lighting design intersect is interactivity, which another dimension.” A lighting designer’s first duty when working on a fashion Perfect projections trips to Turkey and Greece. He created this amazing virtual Jukanovic says is now a major influence in his profession. show is to present the clothes clearly to the audience, says Holographic tunnel down the catwalk using lasers. It was coloured “There is a clear interest in the movement of people in a Light effect Admir Jukanovic, an associate at Mindseye. “The models animation was turquoise as a reference to the Aegean Sea. You can’t see space. If you move, a light follows you; or once you enter, a The materialisation of light in fashion goes one stage further should be put in bright light as they walk down the runway. integrated into the light from lasers if it is projected in clear air – you need light is turned on”. in the work of celebrated designer Hussein Chalayan, as This should be white, glare-free light that renders the clothes Diesel’s catwalk something for the light to catch – so he dropped fake snow One of his favourite projects in this field was the work light fittings become part of the garments. “In his 2008 in the right colour. The model should be lit from all sides so in Florence from the ceiling that made the laser tunnel visible. of London practice United Visual Artists (UVA) for fashion collection Readings, Chalayan worked with lighting all the audience can see the cut of the clothes.” “I like this allegory where the light is associated with designer Hamish Morrow in 2004. UVA used computer designer Moritz Waldemeyer to place lasers in the hats of But these are just the basics. Lighting can potentially the warm water of the Aegean but, because it’s the winter modelling to mimic the movements of each woman on a the models. These shot red laser beams downwards on to do much more for fashion. In the same way that theatre collection, it is made visible by snow. catwa57lk as a geometric projection, in Morrow’s words “her the model’s dresses, which were made from crystals that lighting goes beyond the illumination of actors to heighten You can see clearly here how light can poetic echo”. This abstract projection was cast on the models’ reflected the laser lights outwards to amazing effect. He also the suspense and themes of the play, fashion lighting can, in help visualise a fashion designer’s dresses and, for a limited-edition run of the collection, embedded LEDs in the fabric of the dresses for his Airborne Jukanovic’s words, “tell a story for the fashion designer and inspiration.” The laser beams digitally printed on the clothes themselves. collection the year before. show where their inspiration for the collection comes from; necessitated a low general light level; “It’s the materialisation of light,” Jukanovic enthuses. “This is something you also see more and more in it can create ambience and drama on a runway where the set in order to show the clothes a spotlight “Light becomes part of a product, something you can architectural lighting design, where LEDs are woven design is very minimal”. followed each model as they walked wear. I think that’s a very beautiful thing. And it is a real within the skin of the architecture. They can be invisible along the catwalk. collaboration between a lighting designer and another artist and unobtrusive during daytime and then amazing when Model behaviour Jukanovic links the artistry of the as they create something really new that wouldn’t have darkness falls.” Another notable moment of light’s physical A simple example he recalls from Calvin Klein catwalks is lighting design for Diesel and Galliano existed before the collaboration. They are beautiful dresses integration into fashion came courtesy of Alexander when models appear as silhouettes at the top of the runway, to that of architectural lighting that would have not existed before the influence of the McQueen, who commissioned Ulla Winkler to incorporate backlit only by a coloured light. Then, as they begin to walk designers who “are there to support a lighting designer.” weight-sensitive lights into catwalk shoes. Every time the down the runway, “the white light kicks in and illuminates He finds a parallel between UVA and Morrow’s model walked, the LEDs in the base lit up the entire sole. the whole model, showing the clothes in detail”. This simple collaboration and Mindseye’s work with Munkenbeck and “Fashion designers need lighting designers to help them variation makes for an immediate spectacle. Line dancing Mindseye fitted bespoke Marshall Architects for an apartment block in London’s visualise their ideas,” says Jukanovic. “And the beauty of “Other fashion designers have used light in a very luminaires along the cladding Bermondsey Square redevelopment. “The entire interior of fashion design is that every season there is something new sensational way,” adds Jukanovic. “One of the shows that of a reception area in London’s the reception was clad in rails of timber by the architects. We for lighting designers to present.” ■ really raised the level and set the standard was the Diesel Bermondsey Square designed linear luminaires of different lengths to be placed ● Admir Jukanovic was speaking to Sam Phillips

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