Today, FIV Magazine presents the collaborations of the House of Dior and dance. A mix of art for the body. When dance and fashion come together, it’s always a successful gamble! Dance has the power to showcase the creations of designers and fashion has the power to sublimate the bodies and movements of dancers.

Dior – Ready-to-wear Fashion Show Spring/Summer 2019

On Monday, September 24, the House of Dior presented its new Spring/Summer 2019 ready-to-wear collection inspired by the world of dance. The fashion show was a true artistic performance where 8 dancers walked around the Dior mannequins and under a rain of rose petals. An exceptional show at the Hippodrome de Longchamps where Maria Grazia Chuiri was inspired by dance as a liberating act.

The artistic director of Dior called on Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal for the choreography. Sharon Eyal danced with the Batsheva Dance Company before becoming its artistic director and then choreographer in residence. She has created more than 15 pieces for the Batsheva Dance Company and more than 30 choreographies for dance companies around the world such as Half-life for the Royal Swedish Ballet, Feelings and Sara for the Nederland Dance Theatre or Soul Chain for Staatstheater Mainz. The young choreographer has also received many awards such as the prestigious Fedora Van Cleef & Arpels Prize for ballet in 2017.

The Hippodrome de Longchamps was decorated for the occasion with quotes from dancers and choreographers Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Pina Baush and Sharon Eyal. Inspiring quotes that can be found in Maria Grazia Chuiri’s creations: long dresses draped in the spirit of Isadora Duncan, dancer’s tulle skirts, feathered jackets, tights, dance suits and the world of Hip Hop with sneakers and other more modern creations. Through this collection, Maria Grazia Chuiri wished to pay homage to Monsieur Dior and to sublimate the modern woman who dances.

Dior x The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma – Ballet Nuit Blanche

From March 29 to April 2, 2019, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma paid tribute to contemporary music composer Philip Glass with 3 ballets, including Dior’s Nuit Blanche. Maria Grazia Chuiri was keen to collaborate with Eleonora Abbagnato, principal dancer of the Paris Opera and artistic director of the Ballet of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. In fact, they both have an atypical background between Italy and France. Eleonora Abbagnato was chosen to be the principal dancer of the Ballet Nuit Blanche with her German partner Friedemann Vogel, principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet. Ballet Dior had 16 dancers and was choreographed by Sébastien Bertaud.

Dior has created sublime costumes with materials that are typical of the aesthetics of classical dance, such as tulle, mesh, light and supple materials. In homage to Monsieur Dior, silk flowers were created in the Atelier Fusion Art in Boulogne. In total, 3200 hours of work, 400 meters of tulle, more than 1500 silk flowers and 8 seamstresses.

Behind the scenes of the Ballet Nuit Blanche with La Maison Dior

Dance lessons with the Dior dancers

During the period of confinement, the House of Dior called upon its dancers and partners, including Germain Louvet, principal dancer of the Opéra National de Paris, Eleonora Abbagnato, principal dancer of the Opéra National de Paris and director of the Ballet of the Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Fridemann Vogel, principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet in a duet with Sebastien Bertaud. These 3 interludes allowed both dancers and non-dancers to dance with professionals at home. For those who missed this prestigious moment, you can view the Dior dance lessons on Youtube for free.

Maria Grazia Chuiri strengthened Monsieur Dior’s connection with dance and brought dance into the House of Dior’s heritage.

Also to be read :

Luxury and Dance: The Dance According to Coco Chanel

Gabrielle Chanel and Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes

As a young seamstress, Gabrielle Chanel had great admiration for legendary dancers such as Caryathis and Isadora Duncan. When Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes arrived in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, she fell under her spell. In Venice, her pianist friend and Polish patron Misia Sert introduces her to the mentor of the Ballets Russes: Serge Diaghilev, who introduces her to dance, music, painting, poetry and fashion. Gabrielle Chanel becomes her friend, her dressmaker and her patron. The latter secretly helps finance the Sacre du Printemps, one of the most famous pieces and revival of the Ballets Russes. In 1924, Gabrielle Chanel created the costumes for the Ballet Le Train Bleu directed by Jean Cocteau and choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, the sister of the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinski.

After freeing the women from the corsets, Coco Chanel frees the dancers of the Russian ballet from the costumes that hinder them. For the first time in the history of dance, the dancers are dressed in tennis, golf and swimsuits. Gabrielle Chanel maintains a strong link between dance and fashion by creating other ballet costumes in 1929 Apollon Musagète and in 1939 Bacchanale in partnership with Salvador Dali.

I gave back to the women’s body its freedom; this body was sweating in parade clothes, under the laces, the corsets, the underwear, the padding. Gabrielle Chanel

La Maison Chanel will be the first Maison de Couture to make costumes for ballets. Karl Lagarfeld also contributes to the dance and fashion tradition at Chanel by creating the costumes for two ballets by the German choreographer Uwe Scholtz in 1986 and 1987. In 2009, he created the outfit for dancer Elena Glurdjidze for the Swan Lake Ballet at the English National Ballet in London. He also created the costumes for the dancers of the Brahms-Schönberg Quartet at the Paris Opera with the dance director Benjamin Millepied.

Chanel to the Opera

In 2018, La Maison Chanel is associated with the Opening Gala of the Paris Opera’s dance season. The following year, Chanel signed the costumes for the annual gala of the Paris Opera Ballet “Variations” by Serge Lifar. Gabrielle Chanel was a close friend of prima ballerina Serge Lifar who considered her as his artistic godmother. The House of Chanel therefore paid tribute to their friendship by designing the costumes for this ballet under the direction of Virginie Viard and with the contribution of the Lemarié workshop which is part of Chanel’s Métiers d’art. Each of the six prima ballerinas embodied a flower: Rose, Lily, Tulip, Wisteria, Cornflower and Violet.

The House of Chanel also dressed the stars invited for the occasion such as Alma Jodorowsky, Anna Mouglais, Caroline De Maigret and Céline Cassel. Podcasts were also made at the Paris Opera with the prima ballerina Léonore Baulac and the principal dancer Germain Louvet.

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Throwback 2018 – Chanel at the Paris Opera

Danse Ads Chance Chanel – Take a new chance

The latest ad campaign for Chanel’s perfume Chance was designed by Jean-Paul Goude, a French graphic designer and photographer. It features a giant dance casting with multicolored tutus where four young dancers will be chosen by the jury. In this advertisement, we find the universe of dance placed under the sign of humour, movement and the CHANCE of course!

Behind the scenes of Chanel’s Chance

A Coco Chanel Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre

Coco Chanel always inspires artists – Last year at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, a dance show dedicated to Gabrielle Chanel was born. The great prima ballerina, Svetlana Zakharova has been performing the role of Gabrielle Chanel at the Bolshoi for more than 16 years.

The choreography is by Youri Possokhov, the music by Ilya Demoutski and the direction by Aleksey Frandetti. It is a show that retraces the highlights of Mademoiselle Chanel’s life. The House of Chanel has even entrusted sketches for the occasion in order to make the costumes in the Bolshoi’s workshops. This artistic masterpiece will be danced at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on October 24th and 25th, 2020!