David Manning cofounded StyleLounge in September 2004 as a Fashion Week alternative to the 7th on Sixth tents in Bryant Park. This season StyleLounge offers designers a show space, press room, and after-party venue in Times Square Studios from Friday, September 9, through Sunday, September 11. It will include live runway broadcasts on the Times Square Reuters media board and an L-shaped runway that extends out onto Broadway. Manning is also executive producer and comanaging partner of marketing and event production firm LiveStyle Entertainment.
Why jump into the Fashion Week fervor?
We got pitched a lot by different designers a week before shows, days before shows, asking for sponsors. We saw a lot of need for sponsors and production needs as well. Staging and runway setup are not something designers are best equipped to do. So we thought, why not put together a full-service, turnkey space for these designers? We could coordinate the show, and the designers could worry about their collections. We also wanted to make it a home, a set they can call their base, and coordinate sponsorships for them.
How is StyleLounge different from the goings-on in Bryant Park?
Designers usually have to rent a space to stage their own shows or go to more full-service stations, but those can be quite expensive. We create a very affordable space for them. We’re not necessarily going into competition [with 7th on Sixth]. StyleLounge is for the mid-level designer who can’t afford the higher-end. Our media sponsorships help subsidize costs.
What’s unique about StyleLounge is that it’s not only a fashion show space, but an after-party space. A lot of designers typically do their show and then go to a nightclub or different space for their after-party. We’re also different from Bryant Park in that we bring in the media to build media exposure. We have partnerships with Elle Girl, Elle Decor, and American Photo. Ours is a more integrated place. We fuse the objectives of designers and sponsors.
Explain how you’re fusing those objectives.
A good example: Mercury wanted to focus on fashion to reach its target market for the Mercury Milan, its new luxury sedan. We created a program where they’re sponsoring a couple of designers at the show, whereby the designers will be getting out of the Mercury Milan when they arrive.
Another example: Kodak is a sponsor and is unveiling its new digital camera series. They’re giving models cameras to take pictures backstage. There will be a docking station for people to print pictures on the spot. Cameras are also integrated into show, with models pulling them out of handbags.
We also offer and provide the public relations campaign. Evolutionary Media Group, based in L.A., is our PR firm. They’re campaigning around the program, supporting our sponsors and designers and StyleLounge.
How did you select the venue?
We started looking in February, right after last year’s show, for a place close to Midtown, an organic space that fit our needs. Times Square Studios has a lot of services inside: a lighting team, rigging, lights for the venue and runway. They have their own sound system, but we’ll bring in our own DJ equipment, DJ, and music for after-parties we’re hosting, and soundtracks for the fashion shows.
StyleLounge is running eight shows over the course of three days. That’s two or three shows a day, plus after-parties in the same space. How are you going to pull it all off?
Our staff consists of probably four full-time, three part-time people, and our network of freelancers. There’s a good intern staff during Fashion Week as well. We’re building the stage ourselves, as well as lot of production elements. It takes a lot of coordination. We have to break down the entire venue after shows during the day, then bring in furniture for the lounge.
With all logistics, the load in, the load out, we’ve created a very tight [schedule] for each day. Each person has a very specific plan, almost down to the minute. To make a fashion show come off exactly to the minute is something that doesn’t happen too often.
What will you be doing during those three days?
I’m kind of the point-zero guy with the headset on, talking to 10 different people. I’ll be making sure everybody is doing what they need to be doing, making sure the shows run on time. I’ll be talking to press, sometimes watching the show, sometimes backstage. I like to be at a vantage point with a view behind the stage and of the front of house, to make sure everything’s going well.
Do you plan on getting much sleep?
I’ll be there around 7 AM and staying until about 1 AM. Maybe I’ll get five hours of sleep a night. It’s another reason we only keep it to three days.
—Jenny Sherman
Posted 09.07.05
Why jump into the Fashion Week fervor?
We got pitched a lot by different designers a week before shows, days before shows, asking for sponsors. We saw a lot of need for sponsors and production needs as well. Staging and runway setup are not something designers are best equipped to do. So we thought, why not put together a full-service, turnkey space for these designers? We could coordinate the show, and the designers could worry about their collections. We also wanted to make it a home, a set they can call their base, and coordinate sponsorships for them.
How is StyleLounge different from the goings-on in Bryant Park?
Designers usually have to rent a space to stage their own shows or go to more full-service stations, but those can be quite expensive. We create a very affordable space for them. We’re not necessarily going into competition [with 7th on Sixth]. StyleLounge is for the mid-level designer who can’t afford the higher-end. Our media sponsorships help subsidize costs.
What’s unique about StyleLounge is that it’s not only a fashion show space, but an after-party space. A lot of designers typically do their show and then go to a nightclub or different space for their after-party. We’re also different from Bryant Park in that we bring in the media to build media exposure. We have partnerships with Elle Girl, Elle Decor, and American Photo. Ours is a more integrated place. We fuse the objectives of designers and sponsors.
Explain how you’re fusing those objectives.
A good example: Mercury wanted to focus on fashion to reach its target market for the Mercury Milan, its new luxury sedan. We created a program where they’re sponsoring a couple of designers at the show, whereby the designers will be getting out of the Mercury Milan when they arrive.
Another example: Kodak is a sponsor and is unveiling its new digital camera series. They’re giving models cameras to take pictures backstage. There will be a docking station for people to print pictures on the spot. Cameras are also integrated into show, with models pulling them out of handbags.
We also offer and provide the public relations campaign. Evolutionary Media Group, based in L.A., is our PR firm. They’re campaigning around the program, supporting our sponsors and designers and StyleLounge.
How did you select the venue?
We started looking in February, right after last year’s show, for a place close to Midtown, an organic space that fit our needs. Times Square Studios has a lot of services inside: a lighting team, rigging, lights for the venue and runway. They have their own sound system, but we’ll bring in our own DJ equipment, DJ, and music for after-parties we’re hosting, and soundtracks for the fashion shows.
StyleLounge is running eight shows over the course of three days. That’s two or three shows a day, plus after-parties in the same space. How are you going to pull it all off?
Our staff consists of probably four full-time, three part-time people, and our network of freelancers. There’s a good intern staff during Fashion Week as well. We’re building the stage ourselves, as well as lot of production elements. It takes a lot of coordination. We have to break down the entire venue after shows during the day, then bring in furniture for the lounge.
With all logistics, the load in, the load out, we’ve created a very tight [schedule] for each day. Each person has a very specific plan, almost down to the minute. To make a fashion show come off exactly to the minute is something that doesn’t happen too often.
What will you be doing during those three days?
I’m kind of the point-zero guy with the headset on, talking to 10 different people. I’ll be making sure everybody is doing what they need to be doing, making sure the shows run on time. I’ll be talking to press, sometimes watching the show, sometimes backstage. I like to be at a vantage point with a view behind the stage and of the front of house, to make sure everything’s going well.
Do you plan on getting much sleep?
I’ll be there around 7 AM and staying until about 1 AM. Maybe I’ll get five hours of sleep a night. It’s another reason we only keep it to three days.
—Jenny Sherman
Posted 09.07.05
