By Chevaun Jackson
I am sure no one is as excited about Black Swan as I am. As a dancer I grew up in the studio. I have worn various costumes, including tutus. However, as all dancers know, there’s the stage fashion/style and the everyday which can be super feminine, tomboyish (my fav), or everything under the sun that reflects the artists true personality. Rodarte, the designers responsible for the wardrobe looks on the movie Black Swan, hit every side of the dance world en pointe (forgive the pun).
When the director and costume designer were looking for a more modern and edgy look for the dark thriller version of Swan Lake they enlisted sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte to take it to the next level. The tutus are dark like horror films but with lighter accents in silver and gray they are elegant as the original light spirited Swan. “We had an affinity for the subject matter,” noted Kate Mulleavy.
Both sisters are lovers of horror movies and all things dark. Even their fashion shows have a bit of theatricality. And their tattered, torn, cobwebbed and California punk vibe that has graced the runway for numerous seasons is not lost in the fashions of Black Swan. Their affinity for Gothic aesthetic, infatuation with ridiculous amounts of tulle in combination with their passion for the subject matter makes the team ideal for this project. According to start Natalie Portman, “Their (Laura and Kate) clothes and collection around the time (we were prepping) were very balletic like— a lot of tulle and invisible lace. They are also…real horror movie connoisseurs. The two components, to me, made the perfect pairing.” We couldn’t agree more.