Opera and ballet have always been a great inspiration for fashion designers and in multiple posts on this site we often looked at how designers have collaborated throughout the decades with theatre ateliers to create costumes for very unique performances.
The latest one to join the numbers of fashion designers who have tried their hand at working for the stage is Alessandra Facchinetti.
The former Gucci, Valentino and Tod's creative director, recently designed costumes for Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlo" (on until February next year, you can check the dates of the performances here) that opened last week at the Theater St. Gallen in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Verdi composed the Grand Opéra for the Paris World Exhibition in 1867: divided in four acts, the opera is based on a libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle (later on translated into Italian by Achille De Lauzières) after the dramatic poem Don Carlos, Infante of Spain by Friedrich Schiller with some scenes inspired by Roi d'Espagne by Eugène Cormon.
This complex and monumental opera (it exists in different versions and with various cuts) debuted in Paris in 1867 and later on was staged in Bologna, Rome and at Milan's La Scala.
Taking place in mid-16th century in Spain, the story revolves around the personal and political conflicts and struggles in the life of Don Carlo, Infante and son of Philip II, King of Spain.
Don Carlo is betrothed to Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of the King of France, but he loses her when the peace treaty ending the Italian War of 1551-59 between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois establishes that she must be married Carlo's father.
Carlo has a loyal friend, Rodrigue, Marquis of Posa, but he has more foes in the revengeful Princess Eboli, the King's mistress who mistakenly thinks Carlo is in love with her, and in the Spanish Grand Inquisitor.
In the opera Don Carlo is an impulsive man, Elisabeth is a tragic figure destined to be unhappy, while the Great Inquisitor seems have power on all the characters on stage, and often acts as the cruel arbiter of their destinies. The Inquisitor also reunites in his character the conflict between the Church and the State.
Director Nicola Berloffa wanted a decadent atmosphere with historical connections in the opera, but he also hoped to inject some references to Haute Couture in the 90 costumes featured in the opera, among them uniforms, tailcoats and capes for men, and sumptuous gowns for women.
Facchinetti moved from one main inspiration - the crisis and consequent end of the monarchy - and combined it with art and cinematic inspirations. The main references came from John Singer Sargent's portraits and the costumes in Luchino Visconti's films.
Fans of the Italian director will easily spot elements calling to mind the costumes designed by Piero Tosi and made by Umberto Tirelli for Visconti's L'innocente with some references to Senso (Tosi and Tirelli made outstanding contributions to the history of cinema as they created a visual language that became well coded and crafted, turning into a solid reference for many fashion and costume designers).
Facchinetti also attached symbolic meanings to colours: there is a somber atmosphere throughout "Don Carlo" (all the arias are often sorrowful in this opera that also includes an "auto-da-fé", a public parade and burning of condemned heretics) with black, brown, forest green and prune shades prevailing especially in the uniforms of the main male characters.
The designer opted for a pale lilac for Elisabeth as a metaphor for her loss of happiness and a deep electric blue and dark violet for Eboli to hint at the latter's disruptive power. Tone on tone embroidered and black beaded elements elevated the gowns from costumes to couture.
There are no crowns on the stage as monarchy is losing power (black and brown, shades evoking mourning rather than celebrations, are the colours favoured for Elisabeth's coronation gown), while the conflict between Church and State is referenced in the Inquisitor's costume, a priest's cassock matched with an oversized stole covered in circular beaded embroideries.
While younger designers may be more interested in creating fashion for real people and trendy pieces for modern consumers, costumes are a great way to experiment with other mediums, creating something that lasts longer than a season and learning at the same time a lot in a very different environment.
Designing for the stage means indeed studying the story behind an opera, a ballet or a play and developing through garments and accessories a character on a psychological level as well.
Last but not least, a costume designer must take into account the needs of the performers, without forgetting the members of the audience, and therefore designing costumes that allow singers, actors and dancers to move, while at the same time coming up with shapes and silhouettes that, through their volumes, help the members of the audience grasping the personality of that character.
Facchinetti worked on this project for around a year (the designer posted on her Instagram page some images showing the work in progress behind the scenes and some of the costume details) and she definitely managed to gain a lot of experience when it came to textiles and fabrics. For these costumes she worked with a Como-based company to develop silk jacquard textiles, while the laces came from the century-old company Forster Rohner (that provides fabrics to fashion houses such as Dior, Balenciaga, and Chanel; the fabric for the black velvet gown with broderie anglaise inserts donned by Alex Penda as Elisabeth in the last act came from Forster Rohner).
Facchinetti was quick to rise to fashion fame, but she was even quicker at losing the favour of the fashion media (something that wasn't entirely her fault, but was to be attributed to a sudden lack of support from her once mentors, including the late Vogue editor Franca Sozzani and Sozzani's partner Vogue Italia/L'Uomo Vogue art director and advertising company director Luca Stoppini...). In the case of Facchinetti maybe the loss of the fashion industry may be the gain of the costume design profession, after all, you may need patrons in the world of performing arts, but you don't need editors who make or break your career.
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