Rag & Bone designs American Ballet Theatre costumes

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Oct 5, 2017

Rag & Bone is returning to the dance scene this fall with special costumes designed for the American Ballet Theatre.

Rag & Bone is no stranger to dance collaborations, having chosen ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov for its Fall 2015 campaign. Baryshnikov appeared alongside LA street dancer Lil Buck in a video and campaign for the brand's fall collection that year.

Later this month, Rag & Bone costumes will be featured in two new performances produced by the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and choreographed by Benjamin Millepied.

One performance is a stage piece that features Under Armour dancer Misty Copeland for its debut on October 25th. The other is a contemporary piece that will be performed on the street featuring 24 dancers all dressed in Rag & Bone costumes.

The street piece, called Counterpoint for Philip Johnson, is the first piece to ever be performed outside of ABT's proscenium setting of the Philip Johnson-designed Koch Theater. ABT's Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie explained that Millepied likes to give the audience a different point of view of dance by staging his performances off the formal stage.

Millepied is a contemporary choreographer who is the artistic director of the LA Dance Project. He frequently juxtaposes formal dance with street environments such as when he used the LA River as a performance stage. He also choreographed the dances for the film Black Swan.

Millepied said he chose Rag & Bone for costumes because they are contemporary and a realistic representation of street style. He said he wanted his choreography to be done "in street clothes" that added an authentic "natural street quality" to his piece. Millepied said he was attracted to the slight eccentricity of the label and how it has partnered with artists in the past.

In ABT's official statement announcing the performance, McKenzie said, "I think it will challenge one’s expectations of how to experience dance.”  

For the street piece, Rag & Bone made the costumes for the 24 performers who come from both ABT’s Studio Company and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Rag & Bone pulled looks directly from its current collection and also modified styles to increase range of motion for the dancers.

Counterpoint is scheduled to have select performances from October 18th through 29th. Millepied's stage piece called I Feel The Earth Move has its world premier on October 25th.