MPC Creative illuminates Ralph Lauren 4D fashion show in Central Park

To announce their new Polo for Women Spring ’15 collection, Ralph Lauren turned to MPC Creative New York to create a cinematic 4D experience, this time launching a new breed of fashion show. On the evening of September 8th during New York Fashion Week, a revolutionary runway event was revealed to hundreds of spectators: a water-screen projection that towered above Manhattan’s Central Park fusing fashion, art and technology.

Building on the highly successful storefront 4D projection mapping show in 2010, the film marks MPC’s second collaboration with Ralph Lauren.

“I really wanted to do something big for the new Polo Women’s brand – something set in the city — that felt modern. We returned to Central Park, a place I love, and captured the spirit of Polo with a truly innovative mix of fashion and technology,” said Ralph Lauren.

Together with the Ralph Lauren creative team, MPC Creative transformed Mr. Lauren’s clear vision of a hyperreal cinematic journey through New York City into a 10-minute short film that blends stunning CG with live-action runway performance.

At the helm, Creative Director David Estis of MPC Creative led a large team of MPC artists to create flawless transitions and design the rich visual narrative complete with fully CG cityscapes, artful storefronts, cobblestone streets lined with quaint brownstones and charming parks. From augmented CG set extensions such as the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, to elaborate layers of matte paintings, all told, the film consists of over 13,000 frames. Ralph Lauren SVP Creative Director Amir Mohammady and VP of Interactive Design Yong Choe worked closely with MPC under one roof at the MPC NYC studio, maximizing their collaborative creative efforts.

“The creative partnership between MPC and Ralph Lauren was a perfect fit,” said Estis. “This is exactly the kind of work MPC is built to do - we have the ability to deliver not only the film and VFX assets, but we also have an experiential team that lives and breathes this kind of work.”

Tim Dillon, Executive Producer at MPC Creative, adds: “At the end of the show, we’re hoping that the audience appreciates and is inspired by the forward-thinking approach that Ralph Lauren has taken to its use of technology, and events like this.”

Production Detail

The MPC and Ralph Lauren creative teams were aligned from the get-go to conceive the first-of-its-kind film in the fashion arena. Comprised of 12 stylized runway vignettes, and compositions of over 50 fashion looks, practical set elements including a 15-foot lighthouse and even the iconic designer Ralph Lauren himself, the film was choreographed to fit the precise contours of the fan-shaped water screen that measured 60 feet tall and 150 feet wide.

Over a two-day shoot with a 75-strong crew, MPC NY VFX supervisors Vicky Osborn and Alex Harding oversaw the action captured in-camera against giant green screens with the help of a computer-control led camera rig. A detailed pre-vis enabled artists to carefully integrate each shot's elements with the live action plates, while keeping the art direction charming, bold, and on brand.

The animation sequence was created specifically for the event, using the depth effect created by the spraying water to its advantage by including visual elements that move towards the viewer, creating an effect similar to stereoscopic 3D, but without the use of glasses. The final projected image is 2K (2048 x 1080), rear projected onto a water screen.