Now heading Raiden Studios, a full-service fashion and events lighting design consultancy, Freddie Bonfanti injects his lighting designs with the same passion and unique perspective he's gained over the course of his career; carefully considering his space and casting light in such a way that it becomes a part of the show or installation. Working his way up from the yard to sets to runway shows in London and Moscow, Freddie's varied experience allows him to create designs that push boundaries with new ideas.
Focusing Alexander McQueen AW18.
Fashion! Turn to the LightingArmed with a Cinematography degree and electricians training, Freddie worked his way from the yard, to gaffering on sets, to discovering lighting for fashion.
I started out in Scotland, working on short films and features. In 2009 I moved to Australia where I got a job as a pat testing electrician at Fox Lighting in Sydney. One day in the yard I met one of Australias biggest gaffers, Shaun Conway, who gave me a chance to work for him on set and from there he offered me a place in his team of electricians, mainly as a truck person, looking after all his equipment. It wasnt a great job, but it proved essential to refine my skills and knowledge with the gear. From there I basically started working on big films in Australia and high-end commercials thats where I refined my film lighting knowledge. Shaun is a fantastic gaffer and a wonderful person, and the Australian sparks were very good, I learned a lot over there.
When I came back to London, I started gaffering on features and commercials, but after a few years I felt like I was getting tired of the film industry. One day around 2013, I was asked to gaffer a fashion show for a big Italian lighting designer called Manolo; I had never done a show before and my curiosity pushed me to accept the gig.
Finding true passion in designing lighting for live fashion shows with help from a mentor.
The job was an Alexander McQueen show and its fair to say, it opened my eyes. I didnt know that lighting a runway show would be so interesting and incredibly creative: the big shows at Fashion Week are born out of a huge creative process that involves the designer, the creative production and all the other creatives involved. Lighting is crucial in this process and the lighting designer has huge responsibilities.
You get to work in amazing locations, and precision is key. Learning that early was fundamental. I kept working with Manolo on a lots of fashion shows and events in the following five years, I then became his associate lighting designer and friend. We really built a good relationship. The amount of stuff I learned in those five years was unique. I would say Manolo is one of the top three lighting designers in the fashion business and he was able to teach me all the secrets of fashion lighting design which is very different from film lighting.
A Difference of Precision in Fashion LightingFilm lighting is an incredibly creative process, but there is significantly more leeway when it comes to mistakes. There arent many physical restrictions on where to place your lights based on where the lens is looking and, if what you planned isnt working, you can easily move the equipment to different parts of the set. Fashion show lighting design, however, is often irreversible and unforgivable. Once you have the technical plans and a brief at hand, you need to think carefully and commit to a design, lighting fixtures, and rigging. Everything goes on an executive plan which is then submitted for sign off; there is no winging it. Your job is to create an atmosphere in the location whilst properly and evenly illuminating the runway, making the models and garments as beautiful as possible, and giving the cameras and the photographers enough exposure. Ultimately, what sells the collection are the show videos and photographs.
Choosing the right lighting is also very important: you have to be very careful of what the lamps look like and what they feel like. You cant use masculine and techy looking moving lights if the shows inspirations were femininity and nature. Everything has to carefully blend.
Adidas Original AW19.
Collaboration Process and TechniqueWhat it's like to put a show on and the dedication it requires.
Firstly, you're presented with a creative pack by production featuring the main ideas, references, loose information on the garments, and location photographs. Your job is to soak up the vision of the creative director and transform it into concrete, technical lighting design. A production drawing is then supplied, this will establish where sound, lighting, scenic elements, etc. will be positioned from the various departments. From the drawing youll be able to understand how far and wide the runway is, understand how many fixtures youll need and estimate the correct angles of lighting. Precision during this process is paramount.
Choosing the appropriate lighting instrument is also very important: you need to pick the right light for the job, but you must be very careful of what the lamps look like and understand how they will fit with the rest of the scene. You cant use masculine and techy looking moving lights if the shows inspirations were femininity and nature. Everything has to be carefully selected.
Once on site, the job is to create an atmosphere in the location whilst properly and evenly illuminating the runway, making the models and garments as beautiful as possible, and giving the cameras and the photographers enough exposure. Ultimately, what sells the collection are the show videos and photographs.
Creating AtmosphereYou arent just lighting for one medium: youre lighting for the audience, for the stills cameras, for the video cameras and lastly, for smartphones. Guests will post on social media; its all about the experience.
I was taught that gue
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
Now heading Raiden Studios, a full-service fashion and events lighting design consultancy, Freddie Bonfanti injects his lighting designs with the same passion and unique perspective he's gained over the course of his career; carefully considering his space and casting light in such a way that it becomes a part of the show or installation. Working his way up from the yard to sets to runway shows in London and Moscow, Freddie's varied experience allows him to create designs that push boundaries with new ideas. 
