Melbourne Fashion Week 2024 presented by City of Melbourne
Date
21-27 October, 2024
Location
Various
Team
Melbourne
CLIENT
City of Melbourne
It’s not very often you can say you’ve worked on the same event for 19 years!
Ever since the inception of Austage Events Melbourne way back in 2005, we’ve had the pleasure of working on Melbourne Fashion Week. Fashion events are such a core part of what we do at Austage and we couldn’t be more proud of this long-standing partnership with the City of Melbourne.
In 2024, the event saw us working across a host of iconic Melbourne venues and event sites including the Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne Museum, Queen Vic Market and Little Bourke Street to oversee technical direction and production management across seven jam-packed days.
Here are some of the highlights from the 30th edition of M/FW.
Volvo Electric Runway – Queen Vic Market
One of our favourite things about working on M/FW is the opportunity to turn the unexpected into something spectacular. From carparks to cactus gardens, there have been some fun briefs over the years and our role as technical production experts is to ensure all the audio visual elements tie together seamlessly for a memorable audience experience.
The Volvo Electric Runway saw the sheds of Queen Vic Market transformed into the ultimate runway experience to showcase cutting-edge designs from established and next-gen designers. Given the significant length of the event space, we chose a distributed audio system run lengthways across either side of the runway to give all audience members clear sound regardless of where they were seated.
The IMAG vision solution consisted of 4.5×2.5m LED screens bookending the space with additional TV screens dotted at regular intervals along the runway so attendees had a clear view of the models from multiple angles.
In a unique addition to the show, 30 Volvo EX30s were parked along the runway and utilising a bespoke vision mix we were able to broadcast the action right onto the centre displays so event-goers could enjoy a front row experience from the comfort of the car.
Audio, video, production design and management: Austage Events
Lighting: Resolution X
Runway Producer: Moth Design
Little Bourke Street Runway
Returning to the program for the first time since 2017, the Little Bourke Street Runway presented by Emporium Melbourne was a fitting throwback to celebrate 30 years of M/FW.
Setting up an event in an open, public space presents a unique set of logistical challenges (especially with a tight schedule) but with the right planning and an expert crew, anything is possible!
With only four hours to turn the stretch of Little Bourke St between Flinders and Elizabeth Streets into a runway, our team got to work like a well-oiled machine setting up a distributed PA and TV screens along the 50m runway.
Thankfully technology has evolved significantly since 2017, so this year’s production included more battery fixtures and a lot less cable management. In fact our friends at Res X only used five cables across the entire lighting rig!
Audio Visual Production & Technical Direction: Austage Events
Lighting: Resolution X
Creative Director & Runway Producer: Event Gallery
Closing Showcase
To celebrate 30 incredible years, Melbourne Fashion Week 2024 came to a close with a Grand Finale in the place where it all began – the Melbourne Town Hall.
Guests assembled in the round with an iconic lineup of designers who have helped shape Melbourne plus a special performance from G Flip.
The existing AV infrastructure at the Town Hall was complemented by additional rear projection and TV screens placed at key points around the event space + additional lighting and an epic disco ball from Res X to add an extra touch of drama to the already grand hall.
Audio, video, production design and management: Austage Events
Lighting: Resolution X
Runway Producer: Moth Design
Melbourne Town Hall in-house AV equipment supplied by Scene Change Melbourne
A big thank you to all our trusted production partners for helping to make the 2024 edition of Melbourne Fashion Week a roaring success. Bring on M/FW number 20 for Austage in 2025!