Fashion Show Las Vegas
Project Vision
It’s not easy to command attention in glitzy Las Vegas, but Fashion Show Las Vegas is visible by contrast through the use of clean lines and creative technology. Fashion Show’s brand/identity references two classic logos associated with the highest standards in fashion: the simple black and white Chanel No. 5 box and the elegant Didot logo of Vogue magazine. The purity of black and white functions as an envelope for all the tenant activity and stands out among the dizzying visual noise that is Las Vegas. The simplicity of forms also addresses the client’s need to make each retailer the center of the show.
With a limited fabrication budget and a large space to fill, the interior wayfinding is quite simple, with elegant, long, thin, floating horizontal directional signs strategically placed throughout. Larger than life sculptural utensils were designed as icons leading to the Food Court. Several of the utensils are paired with a “menu,” directing shoppers to food establishments throughout the mall.
The plaza along Fashion Show’s front door is populated with logo pylons, utensils, menus, and signs so that the project embraces urban scale, activity, and interchange while providing a streetscape alternative to the ubiquitous gargantuanism of Las Vegas.
Project Details
Ridiculously competent! The elegant brand identity communicates expertly the intention of the designers to convey a fashion environment, yet survive the roller coaster of fashion trends. The over-scaled totems are artistically abstracted and the wayfinding graphics are beautifully restrained. One critique prevented consideration as an honor award: the design was only submitted as the graphics and wayfinding combined. The Fashion Show project as a totality, with the inclusion of its animated media display, the architecture of the steel cloud, and the fashion runway within is an extraordinary feat of environmental graphic design. The project represents perhaps one of the greatest examples of the power and alchemy of media and architecture.
Design Team
Deborah Sussman (Principal in Charge), Sam Fidler, John Johnston, Jenn Chan, Sharon Blair, Paula Loh, Kristen Dietrich
Design Firm
Sussman/Prejza & Co.
Fabricators
Casino Lighting & Sign, New Image