By Gordon Ng,
Some were inspired by specific disciplines within the art form; others simply by the joy of losing one's body and spirit to the music. We report on fashion's "dance dance revolution" in the upcoming Fall/Winter 2021 seasons.
In lieu of a runway show, the Belgian designer Dries Van Noten landed on an even more powerful medium.
With the photographer Casper Sejersen behind the lens for a mesmerising video and stills, he captured 47 models and dancers in rapturous, ecstatic motion to Massive Attack’s Angel – a sublime way of revealing a collection that was considerably pared back by his standards.
Staples such as oversized suiting, shirt dresses and slips are enlivened only by jewel tones, sequins and marabou feather trims instead of his usual smorgasbord of jacquard fabrics and ornate embroideries – the drama of which was heightened via the cast’s array of emotions when lost in dance.
Models from Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2021 presentation outside of the Castel, a Parisian nightlife institution with 60 years of history where the fashion film – shot by Inez & Vinoodh – was set.
Says artistic director Virginie Viard: “I like the Castel so much for its many salons, the spiral staircase, its bar, the journey through this venue and its little house style, where the models can get changed, dressed and undressed, do their makeup together and have fun like a girls’ night in. It’s very sensual.”
The venue might have been a private nightclub, but Viard’s original inspiration for a presentation was an intimate space where models could interact and get ready casually – not unlike the brand’s earlier shows where they would dress themselves and do their own makeup.
“I wanted something warm and lively,” she says, conjuring up slightly nostalgic vignettes of girls getting into the thick of a night on the town, descending the Castel’s staircase and shrugging their wintry coats off in the cloakroom to unveil fun and flirty, party-ready skirt suits, rompers and dresses.
A whole episode in Gucci’s Ouverture Of Something That Never Ended short film series, which was the brand’s alternative to a runway presentation this season (episode four, to be exact), is set in a theatre.
In it, choreographer Sasha Waltz leads dancers from her company – all dressed in re-editions of looks from brand creative director Alessandro Michele’s debut collection five years ago – through an expressionist dance number. The big idea here is to transcend seasonality and trends, but what really makes Michele’s designs so unique is how simultaneously individualistic yet collectively recognisable they are.
Worn by a dance troupe, these qualities are brought further to life. Says Waltz of the connective powers of dance: “The border between individuals dissolves. We as humans desire closeness, intimacy and care, and this image conveys that idea.”
For this ballet-inspired collection, Erdem Moralioglu name-checked the legendary dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn.
In particular, the designer was interested in combining dancers’ on- and off-stage wardrobes. Think comfortable, rehearsal-ready knits juxtaposed or spliced together with vibrant prints, feathers and embroideries meant for the stage.
There’s also a lovely connection in the casting: Four of the Royal Ballet’s older, former principals who walked the show had actually danced and worked with Nureyev and Fonteyn before.
Felipe Oliveira Baptista began developing this collection for Kenzo shortly after the death of the brand’s eponymous founder.
“How to transform the grieving,” the designer pondered in his press notes, “into something positive, joyful, free?” The answer: a jubilant explosion of kinetic energy – seen in highlighter hues and prints as well as buoyant volumes – to celebrate and honour Kenzo Takada’s spirit.
Or, in Baptista’s words: “A visceral yearning for life.”
A version of this article first appeared in the July 2021 Dance edition of FEMALE