Posts by Kate Scott

Update: the ‘PLIE CHASSE’ totes have sold out! BALLERINA totes are still available.

Melbourne label chip chop! and The Australian Ballet have collaborated on two cheeky limited-edition tote bags. Francophile Hannah Chipkin from chip chop! found ballet to be the perfect foil for her iconic designs. The ‘PLIÉ CHASSÉ’ bag was influenced by the stark black and white type of old tram signs; ‘BALLERINA’ by her own dashed dreams to dance en pointe. We caught up with Hannah to talk leg warmers and Centre Stage.

Do you dance?
I grew up dancing from an early age doing almost everything BUT ballet; I think the perfection intimidated me. I did folk dancing (at age five), tap dancing (which I loved!), funk and jazz for many years. Now I don’t dance so much – just the odd boogie when I go out and some moves in the living room when no one is watching.

Your three favourite things about ballet?
Ah, so many. But three?
The toned bodies
The incredible talent and discipline
Pointe shoes (I always WISHED I could wear these!)

Recurring obsessions in your work?
All things French, wordplay, typography, bold colour, simple shapes, and always a sense of humour.

What should people put in their Ballet V chip chop! tote?
Pointe shoes
A DVD of Centre Stage (is it cool to like that movie?)
Leg warmers
I could go on, because the bag can fit much more than three things!

Available from The Australian Ballet Shop
$50

Boutique street label Alpha60 have built a cult following with their wry, witty T-shirts. The brother-sister duo mine the 20th century for influences which figure both directly (patron saint Jean-Luc Goddard presides over their growing empire) and indirectly in their collections. Ballet was bound to make a cameo sooner or later.

These photographs from Alex and Georgie Cleary’s Fitzroy studio find them hard at work on – what else? – a T-shirt for The Australian Ballet Shop. The limited-edition run of 100 (each with a hand-numbered swing tag) is technically Alex’s second foray into ballet – he worked for the company’s merchandise department in the very early days of Alpha60. “We are really pleased to have been asked to do something for The Australian Ballet,” he says. “We love what the ballet does and we were excited to put an Alpha spin to it.”

The T is classic Alpha60 – monochrome, unisex, irreverent. Four businessmen – staid and  bespectacled – stalk a Parisian avenue, but one sports a tutu and pointe shoes along with his briefcase. “We really wanted to create an image that put the ballet in a different environment,” says Alex. “I love the contrast between the serious suits and the pointe shoes – the expressions on their faces look like they are in on the joke and trying not to show it.”

The Ballet V Alpha60 T-shirt is available exclusively through The Australian Ballet Shop

At Behind Ballet we love comments. We LOVE comments. So we’ve decided to award a juicy ballet prize to the best reader comment on the blog every month.

This time around we’re giving away a copy of our 2010 calendar, à la mode: ballet & fashion (reckoned by The Sydney Morning Herald  “the world’s most beautiful calendar … a celebration of sexy bodies and sumptuous couture”) along with a box set of postcards from Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake. You don’t have to do anything to enter except jump onto Behind Ballet and have your say. It doesn’t matter if you’re commenting on an old or a new post, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll select the best for December just before Christmas and contact the lucky winner. Happy posting!

Image: Daniel Gaudiello, Amber Scott, Lana Jones and Kevin Jackson from à. la mode: ballet & fashion. Photography Justin Smith