Bodytorque choreographer Damien Welch set out to create a ballet about the relationship between personality and clothing choice. “I have my own love-hate relationship with fashion”, Damien says. “Birthday Suit comes from my belief that we would be happier (and colder) if we all just stayed naked.” For fashion designer Georgia Clark, Birthday Suit gave her the perfect opportunity to observe the various ways in which people express their identities in their day-to-day existence. We caught up with Georgia to talk about her interest in industrial workwear, and the everyday things that inspire her.

Tell us about your first meeting with Damien; did you find you were on the same page in terms of creative concepts?
Damien had a clear idea of the costumes at our first meeting, I liked his ideas and we went from there.

Your designs for Bodytorque are inspired by the way everyday people express their identities through clothing. Did you conduct stealth research on Melbourne’s streets?
I wanted to know what people were wearing under their clothes. So I conducted some of my research through conversations with retail sales staff in high street stores. Department store staff members are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the current tastes and trends of all types of people. Read the rest of this entry »

Georgia Lazzaro is currently in New York on an internship with Narciso Rodriguez and Calvin Klein and Crystal Dunn works for Melbourne-based label MATERIALBYPRODUCT. Early in the year Georgia and Crystal came together to design costumes for Alice Topp’s Trace, an intimate pas de deux performed by Vivienne Wong and Calvin Hannaford for Bodytorque.à la mode. We spoke to Georgia and Crystal about how they transformed basic hosiery into costumes fit for the ballet stage.

What has it been like working as the only design duo in Bodytorque?
We’ve really enjoyed working together, and have found that our thinking has been in sync the whole way through. It has been so great to have another person to bounce ideas off and get ideas from.

Do you find your ideas complement one another?
The Trace costumes are almost a perfect intersection of our ideas and ways of thinking. We are both fascinated by gesture; the motions of garments; the actions of bodies; the way the two relate to each other. We are both very interested in the language of fashion, and in the way fashion, objects, images and events relate to the living body.

Have you worked as a partnership before?
Not really, although at uni we spent time critiquing each others’ work. We will definitely work together in the future, though!

How did you respond to Alice’s choreographic concept during the initial stages?
When we read Alice’s outline of her concept for the piece – an intimate pas de deux exploring the traces of moments and memories – we were very excited as we felt it fit so perfectly with ideas that we had already been exploring for the Bodytorque promotional images, which we styled. Read the rest of this entry »

Considered the first female dandy, the Marchesa Luisa Casati was muse to a list of painters, photographers, fashion designers, writers and European thinkers. She was photographed by Man Ray, dressed by Paul Poiret, and directly inspired Cartier’s ‘Panthere’ jewellery series. In the streets of Paris at midnight the Marchesa, with wildly teased hair and kohl-blackened eyes, could be seen taking her pet panthers for a stroll. The Marchesa Casati was – in her prime – the most scandalous and daring woman of her day. Bodytorque choreographer Timothy Brown is the latest artist to to draw inspiration from the Marchesa for his new ballet Nocturnal Phantasm. Bridie O’Leary, the costume designer for Timothy’s work, chatted to us about how she recreated the Marchesa for the ballet stage. The sketch above is from Bridie’s last millinery collection.

Tell us about the design brief that Tim gave you …
The brief was very extensive. It not only included his design brief, but  a biography on fashion muse Marchesa Luisa Casati, a detailed description of the music, and notes on his style of choreography. The general idea was to explore the eccentric, macabre and dramatic traits of  the Marchesa. The broader themes were based on the antiquity of the fashions and social high-life of the early 20th century art scene, including the artwork of Erté. The suggested colour palette included the use of monochrome greys and silvers – inspired by the silver screen – with particular attention to the textures and shine of the fabrics. Most of all, Tim wanted to create a sense of drama and tragedy.

And how have you interpreted his ideas?
Firstly, I got a hold of as much as I could on Marchesa Casati and Erté; in particular, paintings of the Marchesa and Erté’s illustrations. The idea was to represent the dramatic glamour and grotesque beauty of the Marchesa’s character that was represented in famous paintings and illustrations, and photos taken of her during her wealthy years, through to her downfall and ultimate poverty. I decided that it was imperative to emphasise the creation of the silver screen. The grey, black and silvery hues and textures would help to capture this. The dancers surrounding the Marchesa loosely reference the Belle Époque style of the period while exaggerating a kind of eeriness and keeping that neo-Gothic edge. I decided red was an excellent colour to use as a highlight not only for its striking appearance on stage but also as an ode to Marchesa’s flame-red hair. The trick was to balance the decorative and excessive qualities in the designs with a modern and minimal style … so as not to hinder the dancers, or overpower the choreography. Read the rest of this entry »

When Bodytorque.à la mode choreographer Robert Curran and fashion designer Ryan Euinton met for the first time to brainstorm costume designs for Fold, they were on the same page. Robert wanted to explore ideas of flesh, layers, and touch; Ryan’s work had explored these themes before (pictured above). Ryan let us in on how he approached the costume designs for Fold.

Tell us about the design brief you were given for Fold …
Robert Curran spoke to me about the ideas, feelings, colours and textures of the piece. From the very start we knew the title of the work – Fold – and that it would involve an exploration of skin and the body. Bodytorque 2010 focuses on fashion so, naturally, we wanted the piece to stand alone as a product of fashion.

Your RMIT graduate work centered on ideas of covering and uncovering the body; have these ideas filtered into your Bodytorque work?
Yes, definitely. As a group of designers working on the various ballets within the programme, we all remarked how there was piece almost waiting for each of us.

What are some words that were flying around your head when you were designing this piece?
Corsets, legs, flesh. Read the rest of this entry »

Melanie Bower has swiftly become one of Australia’s most exciting breakthrough designers. Her autumn-winter collection (pictured above), fresh off the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival runway, straddles the stylistic extremes of austerity and hedonism. For the upcoming season of Bodytorque.à la mode Melanie has designed costumes for Daniel Gaudiello’s new ballet South of Eden, a piece about female escorts working in a hotel, waiting for the right man to come along and take them away. We chatted to Melanie about what inspires her work and the experience of designing for dance.

Can you tell us a little about the work you’ve designed for Daniel Gaudiello’s South of Eden?
In keeping with Daniel’s inspiration for the piece, the costumes are very body conscious and rely heavily on textural fabrics and cut-outs to abstract and sometimes fetishise the dancers’ bodies.

What is it about the work of Helmut Newton that has inspired your designs for this ballet?
For me, Helmut Newton’s work was a great influence because of the way he explored the relationship between sex and power.

What are you hoping to bring to the ballet stage?
I hope my preoccupation with fashion will allow me to bring something fresh. If nothing else, I think, as newcomers, the costume designers for this season of Bodytorque will break conventions, because we don’t know them all!

What has it been like designing for dance?
It has been exciting and challenging. I’ve had to rely heavily on the expertise and knowledge of the amazing wardrobe department at The Australian Ballet.
Read the rest of this entry »