We want your radical and experimental art and ideas for recreating contemporary costumes inspired by the Ballets Russes - an avant-garde ballet troupe in the early 20th century. Show off your creative recreations to the UAL community and wider public!

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In the early 20th century, the radical practices of Ballets Russes sparked a craze for their vivid and exotic costumes in West Europe. To correspond to the modernised choreography, artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Léon Bakst designed distinctive costumes to manifest specific characters. At the same time, Parisian fashion maintained a steady flirtation with the Ballets Russes, and important fashion designers such as Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent were influenced by the troupe in some ways. 

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Despite their costume productions nearly a century ago, Ballets Russes textiles still embody innovation through their patterns, styles, trimmings, as well as, marks left by the past dancers. Details found on these garments reveal narratives of the ballet troupe and its point in history. Using the displayed costumes as a prompt, how have ideas developed throughout this time?

 

Here, we exhibit 9 design works inspired by Ballets Russes!