It may be difficult to guess where fashion will go in 2014, but there is one trend that emerged in the last two years and that is set to become a recurring obsession - designing costumes for the stage and in particular for ballet companies.
The list of fashion designers who contributed to ballets is long and includes Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Gianni Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier, just to mention a few ones. More recent collaborations include Valentino, Riccardo Tisci, but also an entirely new generation of younger designers such as Iris van Herpen and Laura Theiss. Come next year we will probably see also more attempts at merging New York Fashion Week with the Fall season of the New York City Ballet.
In the meantime, fans of the fashion and ballet connection will be able to watch on TV the latest fashion designer and ballet collaboration - Vivienne Westwood designing and curating costumes for the Vienna State Ballet.
Dancers will be wearing her costumes during the intermission of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Year’s Day Concert on Wednesday. Being the largest event in classical music broadcast every year through radio and television in over 80 countries, the concert has millions of fans all over the world (my perfect childhood memory consists in having a big New Year's Day family lunch while watching the concert and being completely mesmerised by the dancers...).
The inspirations behind the costumes combine two elements: Westwood’s trademark designs (from her Autumn-Winter 1988/89 collection to her Spring/Summer 2014 collection), and the historical Palais Liechtenstein, setting to the ballet.
Dancer Kathrin Menzinger will wear a customised version of the silk taffeta "Moon" dress that originally appeared in Westwood’s S/S 2014 Gold Label show. The dress will match the renovated Baroque and Rococo interiors of the Palais Liechtenstein, situated in the heart of Vienna.
Menzinger's partner will wear a black double-breasted jacket and black silk pants; further designs include a deep burgundy asymmetrical "Bird Of Paradise" gown with bow and tulle underlay; the "Classic Bird of Paradise" dress, that is a buttercup yellow gown inspired by the looks in Westwood's Spring/Summer 2005 collection ("Ultra Femininity"); the "Bronze SOL" dress with a check and stripe light teal taffeta bodice and skirt with a pale grey and white tulle underlay inspired by the Autumn- Winter 2005-2006 collection ("Propaganda") and worn with cream satin slippers; the "Paperbag Frill" dress with layers of fine cream lace matched with long lace gloves and soft peach satin slippers, and the "Dame Corset" gown inspired by the Autumn/Winter 2006-2007 collection ("Innocent") with a multiple layered ballroom skirt in gold and pale bronze lace and tulle.
Rather than punk, the looks will focus more on romance with some Robert Burns thrown in. Female dancers performing a rendition of the polka will indeed wear tartan mini-kilts and bustiers, a traditional cotton blouse with bow tie and white thigh-high socks and garters, while the costume of the male dancers will include a tartan kilt and dancing jacket with a traditional Scottish waistcoat, shirt and sporran. These won't be the only Scottish notes in the ballet: in charge of the choreography, as last year, is Ashley Page, former Scottish Ballet Artistic Director.
Ballet has been a lot on Westwood's mind this year: in January 2013 she was called to rebrand the English National Ballet with a new campaign showing the ballet dancers wearing her designs.
Yet Vivienne Westwood’s creations are just one of the concert highlights. The Vienna Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Concert is indeed a long-standing tradition, first broadcast on television in 1959 to send the world a New Year’s greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace. This year stage and screen legend Julie Andrews will host the concert that will be directed by acclaimed conductor Daniel Barenboim who already led the event in 2009.
Image credits for this post:
Images 1 - 4: Photo by ORF/Günther Pichlkostner
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