The Ballet Is Always in Fashion: The 10 Best Designer Collaborations Inline
Photo: Courtesy of New York City Ballet1/10Rodarte, Two Hearts, New York City Ballet, 2012
Benjamin Millepied’s elegant choreography was perfectly underscored by Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s graphic black-and-white costumes. The pared-down pieces—understated in comparison to the intricate wares the sisters typically produce for Rodarte—kept the focus completely on the dancers.
Photo: Brad Barket / Getty Images2/10Prada, Fortuna Desperata, Performa Commission by Francesco Vezzoli and David Hallberg, 2015
Miuccia Prada and Fabio Zambernardi’s avant-garde costumes for American Ballet Theatre principal David Hallberg were almost as arresting a sight as Hallberg himself, who returned to the stage after a yearlong absence in a tunic and skirt crafted by the designers. The performance, created in collaboration with artist Francesco Vezzoli, served as a nod to ballet’s Italian beginnings—a fact that makes Prada’s participation even more fitting.
Photo: Courtesy of Paris Opera Ballet3/10Riccardo Tisci, Boléro, Paris Opera Ballet, 2015
The Paris Opera Ballet’s adaptation of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro found its creative match in Riccardo Tisci. Working with choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet, as well as longtime collaborator Marina Abramovic, who designed the show’s sets, Tisci crafted a series of transparent looks embroidered with rib bones and spinal cords in an effort to highlight dancers’ bodies, as well as the sensual nature of Ravel’s composition.
Photo: Loic Venance / Getty Images4/10Jean Paul Gaultier, Snow White, Ballet Preljocaj, 2012
The theatricality of Gaultier’s runways made him the perfect choice to create costumes for Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White. The fantastical fairy tale was given the Gaultier treatment, complete with glossy leather bustiers and corsets modified for dancing rather than vamping.
Photo: Courtesy of Paris Opera Ballet5/10Christian Lacroix, La Source, Paris Opera Ballet, 2012
Paris Opera Ballet’s revival of La Source provided Lacroix with the ultimate vehicle for his sumptuous aesthetic. Using 2 million Swarovski crystals, countless yards of silk, and enough trompe l’oeil to satisfy even the most lavish Lacroix loyalist, the designer put his stamp all over the production.
Photo: Boris Horvat / Getty Images6/10Azzedine Alaïa, Les Nuits, Ballet Preljocaj, 2013
Ballet Preljocaj’s adaptation of One Thousand and One Nights enlisted Alaïa to bring his couturier’s touch to the classic story. Employing strategic cutouts and transparency, Alaïa’s revealing costumes may have left little to the imagination, but they were the perfect complement to Angelin Preljocaj’s erotically charged choreography.
Photo: Courtesy of New York City Ballet7/10Olivier Theyskens, Spectral Evidence, New York City Ballet, 2014
To capture the accusatory environment of Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch trials, Theyskens leaned on electrifying visual cues, such as when he covered dancers’ bodies in glossy red marks meant to represent social stigma.
Photo: Courtesy of New York City Ballet8/10Stella McCartney, Ocean’s Kingdom, New York City Ballet, 2011
Who but Stella McCartney could provide the costumes for Paul McCartney’s ballet debut? McCartney’s psychedelic designs provided her father’s tale of dueling supernatural kingdoms with its visual interest.
Photo: Courtesy of Ballet Russe9/10Coco Chanel, Le Train Bleu, Ballets Russes, 1924
In 1924, everything about Le Train Bleu was cutting edge. Based on an idea by Jean Cocteau, the story concerns itself with dilettantes rather than mythic figures, and Coco Chanel’s casual-chic costuming—the cast looked ready for tennis rather than ballet—underscored the modern theme, as did Henri Laurens’s Cubism-influenced set and Bronislava Nijinska’s austere choreography.
Photo: Courtesy of Sadler’s Wells10/10Hussein Chalayan, Gravity Fatigue, Sadler’s Wells, 2015
Never one to do things by half measures, Chalayan has the distinction of not just creating costumes, but helming his own dance. Choreographed by Damien Jalet, of Belgian dance collectsive Les Ballets, Gravity Fatigue isn’t a straightforward narrative, but centers on concepts of freedom, displacement, and movement. Veering into performance-art territory, Chalayan utilizes a variety of elastic fabrics dancers move with, making the costuming a part of the story itself.
