Walking on Water at Ralph Lauren

A four-dimensional fashion show on water? No problem at Ralph Lauren, a company with ties to New York as deep as its pockets.

During fashion week, the designer took over Central Park’s Cherry Hill Lake to make a statement with Polo for Women, a major push for the firm. The show’s technology was groundbreaking. Pretaped against a green screen, the models were set into a digital, brick-by-brick re-creation of New York street scenes: brownstones, the Brooklyn Bridge, parts of the skyline, the Polo store, the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. The 10-minute video was projected against a five-story-high water image on the lake, creating a holographlike effect.

Ralph Lauren

“The reason to do this is not just for fashion week or for a fashion show but to create something that was mobile,” said David Lauren, Ralph Lauren Corp´s executive vice president. “We’re talking about taking it to Singapore and [elsewhere] as we roll out Polo stores around the world.”

The production, at 9 p.m. on a brisk Monday night, made a splash as Ciara, Kendall Jenner, Karlie Kloss, Diane Von Furstenberg and Barry Diller and the entire Lauren clan looked on.

It started with the digital moon rising and ended as the man himself (or, rather, his hydro-holographic image) took a runway bow on the lake and danced a little Fred Astaire move.

It prompted quite a reaction from the crowd, which included Ben Stiller, who has been teasing a Zoolander sequel for some time. He was overheard whispering to the designer after the show, “I’ve got a part for you.”