Large crowds of fashion lovers are expected to don their sartorial best and ogle the catwalk at this year's Fashfest, which kicks off on Wednesday.
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But one of the biggest challenges happens long before the models and designers even set foot in the venue.
Local company Elite Sound and Lighting will bring the venue to life and ensure the outfits look their very best on the runway, a task owner Darren Russell says is no small feat.
Returning for its second year, the festival will again be held in an industrial space at Brindabella Business Park, in a building that isn't regularly used as a venue.
''We have to turn it into one,'' Mr Russell said. ''It's a challenge.
''The building only has temporary power. We have to put an enormous generator outside and run miles of cable inside the building.''
The company is in charge of everything from the power infrastructure, to the lightning, video and audio required for the event.
''We've done a number of fashion events in Canberra before - none of this scale though,'' Mr Russell said.
Fashfest runs for four evenings and will showcase 36 diverse and local designers.
There will be a different line-up of designers every night.
Elite Sound and Lighting, which this year celebrate its 20th birthday, is no stranger to large-scale events.
As well as being the in-house provider for venues such as QT Canberra, Hotel Realm, Old Parliament House and the National Arboretum, it has also been responsible for big celebrations, including Floriade, Foreshore and major ACT government events.
Mr Russell says when Fashfest founders Clinton and Andrea Hutchinson approached him to get involved in the inaugural event last year, he jumped at the chance.
''I agreed with the idea of why can't Canberra have something like Sydney or Melbourne fashion week - there's no reason we can't,'' he said.
''Some of the stigma attached is the Canberra stigma. I'm always one to try and break that.''
Mr Russell says his firm has tried to raise the bar with the lighting this year, and estimates it has set up about 150 light fixtures inside and outside the venue.
''It's an interesting space and in its current form, it's still rather industrial,'' he said. ''Our challenge in the venue is to use lighting to make the venue seem high end and corporate.
''We put an enormous amount of lighting inside and outside the building to do that.''
Fashfest is on April 30 to May 3. Tickets are still available from fashfest.com.au.
