New Zealand icon and longtime fashion designer, Karen Walker, is well known for her ability to design effortlessly cool clothing, and for her unique fashion point of view. But when it was announced that Walker was going to design the costumes for the Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of 'Satisfied with Great Success' (part of the Stravinsky triple bill), Karen fans went into frenzies of excitement.
"What I loved about Stravinsky's original approach to ballet is that he casualised ballet by bring real clothes into it", Karen comments. "That idea of high/low and contrasts is very much in line with how we approach fashion, so we felt there were some parallels there that we wanted to work with."
It is clear that Walker drew inspiration for her designs from her current collection 'Perfect Day', with her modern gray and yellow 'tutu' (pictured above) closely resembling many of her current collections pieces - in both colour and style. The non-traditional style of her designs is a result of choreographer, Cameron McMillan, stating that for this ballet he did not want 'costuming'; but instead something modern, wearable and fresh. "He came to us because we're not costume designers" Walker explains. "My idea was to create a product that could live with ease, on and off the stage."
Performances of the Stravinsky triple bill started on May 20th and will go until June 9th. So far Karen fans have been thrilled with the show, many commenting that her modern designs seemed to make the ballet so modern, fresh and accessible. "I think a lot of the time ballet seems so inaccessible to the general public, as many think that it is reserved for the social elite of our communities" says Wellington dance teacher, Fiona Kent. "I really commend Karen for going where many designers never go and branching into costume design. It seems that people are going to see the show because they feel like they can since Karen's designing the costumes; especially fashion people. Society no longer responds to the snooty, intimidating environments of some traditional ballets. By making the costumes more casual, a wider variety of people are more likely to come and see the show. It's innovative really."
With two more cities to go, and numerous shows still to be performed, there is still plenty of time to see Karen Walkers designs on stage. Show and ticketing info is available at the Royal New Zealand Ballet website. Believe me, you wont be disappointed.
Good on you Karen!
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