Fashion Show Projection Mapping for Runways and Collection Launches

A collection gets a few minutes on the runway, and the room decides how those minutes feel. A white box and a row of chairs leave the clothes to do all the work. A set that shifts with the music, the light and each new look gives the audience a show to remember and the cameras something worth framing.

We design and run projection for fashion houses, designers, brand teams and show producers, from runway shows to intimate presentations and collection launches. If you have a venue and a show date, start the conversation about your show.

Fashion show projection mapping replaces a fixed backdrop with a set that can change every few seconds. In New York, the presentations that get remembered are the ones that reimagine the room rather than simply staging a runway inside it. Unlike static screens or LED walls, projection mapping can wrap around irregular surfaces, even the stage floor itself, so the runway, the back wall and the architecture around them read as one moving image.

The technical point that matters most on a runway is shadow. Models walk through the space the projectors are lighting, so placement decides whether the image lands on the set or on the clothes. We position projectors on towers or trusses, often behind the stage, to avoid casting shadows on performers, and we plan the walk and the throw together.

• Previz before load-in. We create rapid 3D prototypes of staging, projection, lighting and audience sightlines, so the creative director signs off on the set before a single truss goes up.
• Content made for your collection. We don't repurpose existing assets; we build visuals around the shape of your set and the story of the season.
• Runway, backdrop and scrims. We map the floor, the back wall and custom-built scrims, so a reveal can happen in front of the audience rather than behind a curtain.
• Cues locked to the soundtrack. The media server receives a timecode from the soundboard, triggering visual cues in real time, and we can adjust on the fly if the show runs long.
• Live camera feeds. We often integrate live camera feeds at award shows, and the same setup can put a close-up of the walk on the backdrop as it happens.
• A full rehearsal. We build in a rehearsal day so the walk can be run with the visuals, allowing for last-minute tweaks.

Our event design team coordinates with lighting and sound engineers so the projection supports the show rather than competing with it.

Runway shows need the set to follow a running order: an opening look, a shift in mood halfway through, a finale. Each change is a cue on the timeline, so the room can turn from a desert to a city street between two looks.

Fashion Week presentations run in crowded calendars. New York Fashion Week arrives in February and September, Los Angeles Fashion Week sits alongside flagship store openings on Rodeo Drive, and Paris Fashion Week is among the highest-profile opportunities for brand projection mapping activations.

Collection launches and press previews are built for the photographs. Retail and fashion brands stage store openings, seasonal campaigns and press previews, using projection to transform a space quickly and photograph well for social and editorial coverage.

Projection onto a single garment or product is its own discipline, covered on our object projection mapping page. For theater-style scenery, see stage projection mapping, and for short-run branded spaces, see pop-up projection mapping.

• Travis Scott x Air Jordan at ComplexCon: For ComplexCon 2024, we built three geodesic domes at the Las Vegas Convention Center entrance, with a projection-mapped 60-foot centerpiece dome that celebrated the intersection of music, fashion, and technology. Working with Grafico and Game Seven, we guided visitors through the dome before they reached the exclusive merchandise areas.
• Nike Air Jordan at the NBA All-Star Game: For the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, we projected the Air Jordan brand across a 40,000 sqft display on the Radisson Hotel, using over 20 Barco projectors mounted on 40ft of scaffolding.
• Resorts World rooftop domes: Working alongside Moet Hennessy and Zouk Group, we installed six 13-foot geodesic domes and turned the Rose Rooftop into a luxury winter wonderland.

Send us the venue, the date, the running order and a sense of the collection's mood. We will come back with how we would build the set, where the projectors go and what the rehearsal needs. Explore our full range of projection mapping services, or contact our team to start planning.