Dries Van Noten Dances into Fall/Winter 2021 With a Movement-Filled Fashion Film
We all want to dance. Dries Van Noten must have thought of this while imagining the Fall/Winter 2021 collection. A film, directed by Casper Sejersen, in which the protagonists are all professional dancers or models who have become dancers for the occasion reveals the lineup. Among the faces one well-known figure stands out: top model Maria Carla Boscono. Genres fused and embraced in motion, the fashion film symbolizes abandonment, exuberance, the desire to express oneself. Drums, trip-hop, and a fluid gait show the full range of human emotions: from happiness to anger, confusion, logic, and euphoria. Filmed in the "Red Room" of the Teatro Unico in Antwerp from February 8 to 11, 2021, a troupe of 47 artists was summoned, which unites artists from the world-renowned Belgian contemporary dance companies, namely Rosas and Ultima Vez, and some from the Opéra National de Paris.
The tailoring has gravity but is juxtaposed with the exuberance and glamor of the soft, shiny, and extravagant. Couture techniques are applied to the most basic sweatshirts, with trompe l'oeil prints of fabric panels, strings of pearls, roses, and gloves photographed and printed on the fabrics to embellish and reshape the appearance of the garments. The presentation is a vision of feminine beauty that combines filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's exaggerated passionate women and dancer Pina Bausch's stoic and graceful disruptive power. It's a return to the essence and roots of Van Noten's design.
