Tutu Perfect

Every girl dreams of being a graceful prima-ballerina, in a pink tutu, gliding effortlessly and sensually across the stage and with the iminent release of Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, it’s got me channelling ballerina beauty. The Rodarte sisters have designed all of the costumes for the new psychological thriller, trying to combine the softness of traditional ballet-wear with the foreboding tone of the film to create the image of an ethereal goddess with a darkness surrounding her. Well, I haven’t seen the film but that’s what I imagine anyway…

 

The designer duo have said that the creation of the tutus is one of the lost couture arts. Laura Mulleavy described it as an intricate process that had to be carefully dealt with, as the pieces of tulle need to be sporadically, yet perfectly placed. However, they have said that the design process, although difficult, couldn’t have felt more natural. Laura continued, “I think our aesthetic naturally fits into the film and I think it was an interesting thing to have someone say, ‘Help us say this thing.’ It didn’t feel difficult at all. It was very natural. It was one of the most exciting things for us to do because the end project was breathtaking.”From what I have seen, the costume design for Black Swan is stunning and, visually, brings the film to another level.  Being the Oscar nerd that I am, I predict huge things for this film come award’s season and Rodarte may well bag themselves a few well deserved trophies.

 

 All of that aside, I started thinking about ballet-inspired fashion. Of course, the idea has been a favourite of designers for years and has often been carried out with utter precision. However, after recently coming across the super talented Mr David Koma during LFW, I can safely say that his take on ballerina-chic will propel him directly into the spotlight. Previously championing his designs, was Cheryl Cole who was seen on X-factor in one of his dresses. If there is a better platform than that for a new designer, I’d love to here about it.

 

Koma’s ss2011 collection was like Swan Lake for the catwalk, with the models even gliding along to Tchaikovsky’s melodies to begin with. The designs themselves were mostly white and with peaches and pale pinks to powder some femininity over the collection. The waists were corseted and there was a tutu-esque structure throughout. Koma even managed to portray the antithesis between good and evil, prominent in most ballets, with a sharp black/white contrast.

He is a young and talented designer with great things expected from him. I suspect that the release of Black Swan, along with a host of celebrities fans, will draw a lot of deserved attention to David Koma this year.