Kleinfeld Bridal is an icon in the wedding world, as it is home to TLC’s popular show, “Say Yes to the Dress.” However, the shop recently faced a huge problem: When women returned to the store for fittings, they complained about not being able to see the true color of their gowns — sometimes needing to take the garments outside to be reassured of the color of the dress they had purchased. Since color accuracy and sharpness are some of the most important factors in wedding dress selection, this situation posed a serious challenge for the famous bridal shop.
“When a bride comes into a fitting room, she’s trying on a dress she already ordered,” explains Jacques Vigneault, vice president and creative director at Kleinfeld Bridal. “We needed the lighting that was very accurate to the right color. We can’t be having discussions with customers about color at this point.”
In total, 19 fitting rooms as well as the surrounding hallways and seating areas needed a lighting update. Kleinfeld Bridal ultimately decided to install 185 of Amerlux’s square Hornet HP Dim-To-Warm Downlights, each equipped with Class A chips. Controls were also installed so that dresses can be presented in a variety of lighting scenarios.
“In retail, there is a direct connection between seeing and feeling,” says Chuck Campagna, president of Amerlux.
Clifford Starr, the NYC lighting designer at GoodMart who chose the company’s lighting solutions for this job, reduced the fixture count to deliver better quality light, more evenly than the old luminaires could.
"I wanted to elevate the fitting room to the same caliber of the dresses," Starr says.
For more details on this case study, see the original report.
