Costume
design

The work involved in designing and making costumes is one of the key stages that will help the audience to grasp the subject of the ballet performance and contribute to its success.
First of all, the costume designer discusses the performance being created with the choreographer - what is the atmosphere, are there any main characters, what is the story or the messages, what are the references and inspirations… Quite often Thierry Malandain does a great deal of document research to define his ideas and intentions.
Drawings of several mock-ups of costumes, sets and props result from this discussion between the choreographer and the costume designer. For several days, they correct and perfect the mock-ups until they are satisfied. This work is very important because it will be the basis of the future ballet’s set design.

From the mock-ups approved by the choreographer, the seamstresses will first make prototypes of the costumes, looking for suitable fabrics that will meet several criteria - materials that are both solid and supple, allowing freedom of movement for the dancers, fabrics that make different effects possible - volume, contours, creasing…and easy maintenance.
After the dancers’ first fitting and the choreographer’s approval, the seamstress makes tailored costumes for each dancer. Sometimes more than 100 costumes are made for just one ballet - leotards, skirts, waistcoats, trousers, dresses, etc. Making costumes can thus represent hundreds of hours of work for several seamstresses.
The head seamstress, designer and choreographer have been working together for over thirty years - this contributes greatly to the distinctive and unique identity of Thierry Malandain’s ballets.