What It Takes to Put On an Instagram-Ready Show

When the fashion show for the label Thakoon takes place Sunday, some audience members may not at first notice the shadows on the floor. But they were the subject of intense discussion on a recent Monday afternoon, as the show's producer, Gayle Dizon, pushed the crew working on the show's lighting for a "sultry" rather than romantic look.

"I think that the angles of light and shadow can communicate a subtle difference between the two," said Ms. Dizon. Even a tiny detail, she added, contributes to "telling the narrative of the collection."

It is Ms. Dizon's job to sweat the small stuff. As president of Dizon Inc., she is one of a handful of in-demand fashion-show producers responsible for putting on the shows and presentations at fashion week. This season, Ms. Dizon will produce 14 events, including fashion shows for Thakoon, Monique Lhuillier and Proenza Schouler.

Producers book venues, oversee set construction, supervise technical matters like lighting and sound, help secure models and professionals such as makeup artists and hairstylists, and plan seating configurations. On the day of a show, the producers are usually backstage with headsets on and stopwatches in hands, timing the show. They cue the lights, the music, the lifting of the protective covering on the runway floor, and the models' walk down the runway—as well as the designer's end-of-show bow.

"It's like you're conducting an orchestra," Julie Mannion, co-president of KCD, the big fashion public-relations and production firm, said Tuesday as she oversaw the installation of a set for Coach's fashion presentation, which takes place Thursday. Amid whirring power tools and workers hauling technical equipment and set pieces to and fro, the veteran show producer continued, "You're pointing, 'You're on, you're on, then 'Now you take the lead.' "

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Ms. Mannion said she is working on 16 shows and presentations for brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. One day next week will include three big shows. She said she gets by on little sleep—and lots of Tab soda.

One producer is well-known for conducting the audience as well as the models. At every show he produces, Alexandre de Betak instructs the crowd, via loudspeaker, in charmingly French-accented English, to please take their seats because the show is about to begin.

Fashion shows and presentations are a key part of a fashion label's branding, transmitting an image to consumers world-wide. And fashion-show production has become more challenging. There are so many more labels putting on events—back to back for weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris—that they can blur together, making it more important to have a show that stands out and gets people buzzing. A fashion show can cost anywhere from $100,000 to "a few million," says Mr. de Betak, whose firm Bureau Betak produces shows for labels including Christian Dior, Michael Kors and Rodarte.

One way labels are trying to make their shows more distinctive is by using more narrative, creating elaborate Hollywood-style sets that immerse the audience in another world. Another trend is adding more interactive and video and digital effects to add visual interest—even at the risk of overshadowing the clothes. A number of shows are pumping in custom fragrances to create a multisensory experience. Last year, Prabal Gurung's show was perfumed with a "modern Bulgarian rose" scent.

Producers have to entertain the jaded, seen-it-all audience that attends fashion shows and the professional photographers in the pit area. Increasingly, they also have to stage and light their shows for the growing number of live streams fashion labels are putting on their web sites or Facebook. Recently, producers also have begun taking into account the scores of attendees armed with mobile-phone cameras who take pictures that are instantly broadcast to thousands of people.

The brands, too, often have Instagram accounts, and producers consider everything from Wi-Fi access in the venue to how their productions will read on tiny screens. "Most of our designers want a very heavy social media presence," Ms. Dizon said.

Social media is also considered when her team figures out where to seat guests. "We're walking around the room imagining, 'OK, so this is where this blogger who's always taking pictures is sitting,' " she said.

Mr. de Betak of Bureau Betak said, "Sometimes we even add light or effects" with the audience perspective in mind, instead of focusing solely on where the professional photographers are gathered.

Producers are having to come up with new productions more often as more labels mount shows for their between-seasons collections, known as resort and pre-fall. Most of these collections used to be shown without fanfare in designers' showrooms.

Fashion labels often retain the same producer season after season. Ms. Dizon said she has worked on Proenza Schouler shows for the past 11 years and with Thakoon for nearly 10 years. "She has an understanding so when you say to her 'sultry and abstract,' she understands what that means," said designer Thakoon Panichgul. "We have a good rapport."

Planning for many of the events that officially start Thursday began months ago. "Typically we'll have an early sitdown with a designer, talk through what their goals are for the season, what direction the collection is taking shape in, what they're looking to accomplish, then a series of meetings as the collection evolves," said Keith Baptista, managing partner of PRODJECT, which produces shows for brands including Alexander Wang and Ralph Lauren.

Some designers know exactly what they want the show to look like, while others have a vague idea or show their inspiration mood boards and then charge the producer to shape it into something. Mr. de Betak, called the "Fellini of fashion" by fashion professionals for the fantastical shows he has put on for longtime client Dior, among others, says former Dior designer John Galliano "was much more conceptual and abstract." Mr. Galliano might say little more than: "the collection was inspired by a Marquis de Sade bloody lady," leaving it up to Mr. de Betak to come up with the show's specifics, the producer says. By contrast, he adds, current Dior artistic director Raf Simons is "extremely precise" about what he wants and "oversees every square inch of the show."

Soon afterward, there may be a hunt for venues to hold the show. Ms. Dizon has retained scouts to find cool new buildings—sometimes ones that haven't been occupied yet or even are still under construction.

Once they have a firm idea of how the show will look, sound and feel, some producers turn to their contact lists of professionals with specialized skills—the technical, lighting, music, sound and set-design experts. "I have an instinct for what I want to do, then I talk to the guys who are specialists," said Étienne Russo, chief executive and artistic director of producer villa eugénie.

In the final days, the producers make sure everything is on track. On Tuesday, Ms. Mannion visited the Coach set from morning until mid-afternoon, and returned in the evening. She planned to be at the venue hours before the presentation would start.

No matter how much planning goes into a show, things can go wrong. Prabal Gurung's runway show in February, which featured dramatic gongs in homage to a trip the designer made to his Nepal homeland, was briefly interrupted by a streaker. He was apprehended by security so fast that many in the audience missed it. Mr. Russo was watching backstage. "You don't allow yourself to go, 'Oh my God,' " he said. "You just have to keep the show going."

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