On Wednesday night, seamstresses and Ford and Elite models filled a vacant storefront that formerly housed the 900 Shops' Waldenbooks store, which became an impromptu backstage area for a Michael Kors fashion show. To celebrate the opening of the designer's new boutique on the shopping center's first floor, Michael Kors vice president of global communications Billy Daley enlisted the services of XA, the Experiential Agency, to produce a high-octane runway presentation and after-party within the 900 Shops. And according to XA event producer Katie Hall, the first challenge of the planning process was finding a place to put said runway.
"Initially, we thought about having the show on the second floor, where the fountain is," said Hall. "We thought we'd cover the fountain with a platform, and have the models walk up from the backside of the fountain and down a runway. But we couldn't fit a long-enough runway there; and as you know, in fashion it's very important to have the right runway."
In July, after a two-hour walkthrough of the shops with Daley and the production and public relations teams from XA, the crew decided to bring the show to the shopping center's ground level, where they covered the corridor of the north atrium with an 80-foot Glam floor, which Hall said is "kind of the new, hot runway. It's a water-wet look, and it's on the floor instead of on a platform or a runway."
Hall said that placing the runway at ground level worked well for the Kors team—"They like the closeness between the models and the audience in that kind of format"—and also made setup easier for the XA crew. "We were at the mercy of the shoppers and the people who use the building all day," she said, "so there were only certain times that we were able to set things up. It worked out great that there was no platform, because we could lay down the floor in about an hour."
To load in the rest of the show's equipment—which included trusses, pipe and draping, and speakers—the crew spent 11 hours at the mall on Tuesday, which "was also challenging," said Hall. While the shops were open, the building's staff "wanted to keep the integrity of the retailers and the building in mind, so we had to work hard to please everybody."
Another logistical ordeal came from the 400-guest R.S.V.P. list. Planners had initially expected a smaller crowd, and only had runway-side seating for about 250. On the night before the event, the XA team decided to install two 50-inch IMAG screens around the runway, so that guests who were standing during the show could still get close-up views of looks from Kors's spring collection.
When the 15-minute fashion presentation wrapped, DJ Rock City struck up a set of upbeat tunes that Kors's team had preselected. "Michael likes classic party tunes from artists like Madonna," said Hall. "He likes songs that people recognize, and that make them smile." The designer requested a similarly recognizable array of passed appetizers for the after-party. "Michael asked for unfussy foods," Hall said. "We wanted guests to say 'I want to try that,' not 'What is that?'" Accordingly, Limelight's menu included hamburger sliders, mozzarella-topped eggplant bites, and cream-filled oatmeal cookies.
