Fashion Events Setups

I've been shooting fashion related events since about 2011 and since then I've shot hundreds of fashion shows. It's a unique experience with some unique requirements. Of course everything depends on the spec of the deliverables and your personal preferences.

Some questions you need to first ask are:

Are you doing short form (e.g. highlights, reels, singular looks, bts) OR full length footage (e.g. archival, livestream, etc.)? If you are only doing small clips, things are much easier because you can afford to do retakes and have a larger selection to choose from. On a full length deliverable, your technique should be close to flawless so no random compositions, shaking, various technical mistakes.
How fast is your turn around? If it's short, shooting smaller files can be part of a faster workflow. Also something with less editing is faster so some people like to set their look in camera correctly (exposure, colors, and contrast). I do always double record to two memory cards in case of failure and it also gives me the ability to pass off a card to an editor. Our files are usually too large and can't be sent via cell service easily.

Next is where and what are you going to be shooting?

Back stage. Space maybe tight here so it's probably best not to carry around a huge setup in these indoor spaces. There are a few variations of shots here.

Vérité style. Since this is probably the most natural, you can get by without any lights. I recommend fast aperture lenses if you want to isolate subjects from typically very busy surroundings. Conversely a large depth depth of field also works so show all the craziness happening at once. There's no right or wrong here.
Beauty. This is the particular task of showing the hair and makeup looks. They usually don't come out well in full body runway / presentation shots so here's the best chance to take them. Using a soft light and reflector is great to get consistent shots. It's going to be hard to use a big light or bigger soft box in tight spaces. You can use larger battery powered soft flat panels or even tube LED lights.
Interviews. A monopod or shoulder rig is more easily maneuverable in small spaces. Leave the tripod for the runway area. A small LED light on camera works best here. I prefer off camera lighting always but then you'd need a person or light stand to hold it which may not always been possible. There's no time to setup lavalier mics so a handheld directional mic is more useful. You might be able to get away with a clip on wireless mic but since this is a busy spot you may suffer from wireless interference (as most of these mics are bluetooth based). So to protect yourself, those mics should have and use internal recording for safety.

Presentations. This is where the models stand around in fixed spots and the audience walks around visiting each model. If the ambiance is cool, you could shoot these without adding any of your own lights and capture the experience "as it was intended". If you are shooting while the general audience is there, there's not going to be much space. Sometimes you'll have to wait until nobody is in front of you to get your shot or ask somebody to hold for a moment. If you give people too much space, they walk in front of you. Because of this, I like to shoot with wider lenses and get up close. So something like a classic 16-35mm zoom can work well for vertical or horizontal compositions with singular model or groups of models. Of course everything is to taste. I see some use 85mm prime lenses but you'll have to be patient and need time to pull that off if you're going to cover all looks.

Runway. Let's first talk about some universal gear that applies for any of the roles I'll talk about further below.

Tripod. It's height should go from waist level to head level. What you'd actually raise it to is on a case by case basis. It should have solid feet but don't too wide as that will interfere with surrounding shooters. I prefer to be on solid ground as that's more stable as it makes more friction. But there are time where you have to pull back and then be simultaneously on the floor and platform, This would make a mid level spreader situationally more useful than a ground one.
Tripod head. It should have fluid pan/tilt motion and good counterbalance that matches the camera setup's weight. The plate should be able to move back and forth to balance the weight. A half ball is nice to be able to level the horizon easily. There are times when you have to change setups fast and this is just a very convenient feature to have.
Power solutions. I prefer to use small V-mount batteries (but any equivalent like Anton Bauer's can work also). This can be mounted on the tripod leg if you want to save weight from the head or you can build a 15mm rail rig out if you want to use the setup off tripod if you're using 1 camera to do everything. The D-tap or Usb-c ports can power the camera, monitor, follow focus, audio, or other electronics on the camera.

Now let's talk about particular requirements for each particular role.

A-Cam: Wide main. You're looking to shoot from head to toe here. Ideally the lens should zoom smoothly. You have 2 options. 1) It has power zoom. This is typical of broadcast lenses and camcorders and there aren't many for mirrorless cameras. Sony mirrorless has a few which makes it the most complete of the brands but they don't have a large zoom range which makes these useful only for medium length runways. 2) You can use a follow focus unit but set for zoom on a lens. The dampening of zoom ring should be smooth and not too stiff. The follow focus unit shouldn't have too much play as you'll be going back and forth often.
B-Cam: Close up / detail shots. The camera / lens advise used for the A-Cam could be used here as well. The problem with any mirrorless system choices is there aren't any power zoom options that can get further so your only choices are 1) wait till subjects get closer but you'll be losing shot opportunities. 2) Switch to manual zoom with follow focus and use a telephoto lens. Usually the B-cam isn't for long takes and the shot could be no more than 5 seconds before cuts so this could be useable.
C-Cam: Alternate shots. This can be anything like action cameras, drones, other tripod based cameras from alternate angles on ground level, high up, etc. There's nothing particular to watch out for but being able to match the looks is important.
Freelancer / non-house. This camera is probably more off center so a smooth tripod is of more important as you'll have more motion. If you're doing solo shooting, you probably could decide to get BOTH wide and closeups. In that case it has to work fast changing the shot. Some power zooms and follow focuses are too slow to do "crash zooms". I do prefer the ability to go very fast so I prefer light weight zoom ring that lets me do this.