THE AMERICAN BALLET THEATER TEAMS UP WITH DIOR Maria Grazia Chiuri Is Designing The Costumes

Dior’s first-ever female creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, has been tasked by Works & Progress and the American Ballet Theater to design costumes for its upcoming production, titled Falls the Shadow. Starring principal dancer Daniil Simkin, the show will debut at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on September 4th in New York City. According to WWD, Chiuri was first approached by ABT a year ago—around the same time she co-chaired Dior’s Guggenheim International Gala.

The new production will be staged within the museum’s infamous spiral rotunda. The audience will stand close by on ramps, creating an aerial view effect. Real-time 3-D footage of the dancers will be projected on to the walls throughout the performance.

Speaking in an interview with WWD earlier today, Chiuri said that the costumes will reflect the museum’s unique architecture, while meeting all of the dancers’ functional needs. “I imagined the costumes beginning with the body’s expressive role in dance,” she explained. “They’re skintight and above all support the subtle gestures, flexible poses and sinuous movements.” Chiuri’s initial design sketches depict two silver leotards finished with a graphic white and black trim that reads ‘Christian Dior J’ADior.’

Courtesy of CR Fashion Book