CK x Amazon NYC Market

Senior Producer

The Calvin Klein x Amazon Fashion NYC Market was 3-day pop-up at the Flatiron Plaza in Manhattan to celebrate the brands’ new partnership. In addition to a surprise performance by A$AP Rocky on the video billboard, attractions included multiple photo ops, a branded water tower, interactive gaming stalls, an Alexa-activated jukebox/infinity room and a vendor stall featuring new CK items to be sold on Amazon.

This project was one of my most difficult challenges in event production. In the span of a month, our team of in-house designers and three external fabricators completed seven vignettes, the video billboard/stage, and the 30-ft high water tower. All this was to be installed within 24 hours on the Flatiron Plaza in Manhattan without the ability to close or block off any adjacent roads or laneways and the premises had to be vacated and cleaned within 18 hours. There was a lengthy approval process with the NYPD and civil engineers of City of New York in order to ensure the safety of the event. Estimating the load-in process was difficult as our team needed to coordinate with three external vendors to estimate the weight and dispersement of the event features, estimated people flow, and the heavy machinery used to install and strike the event. The consequences of failure would result in the street collapsing above a subway line. As directed by the NYPD, the performance by A$AP Rocky was not to be publicized as it was deemed to be a security risk, or the entire event was shut down. This was faced with a lot of pushback by Amazon and Calvin Klein, whose marketing teams wanted to make ensure exposure was maximized for their multi-million dollar project. Without announcing the event, it was a massive success with over 4,000 attendees, millions of social media impressions, and the sell-out of the new A$AP Rocky jacket within hours.