When the spotlight shone on FKA twigs last week during her Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon appearance, the 28-year-old Brit appeared as if she was descending from the skies. Not only was Tahliah Barnett invoking prayer in the lyrics of her ballad, “Good to Love,” but her memorable performance was enhanced by the otherworldly stage look she debuted that night: a white robe and matching pants with an intricately embroidered nude-illusion top underneath made up of Swarovski crystals. That ensemble, the result of a collaboration with designer Grace Wales Bonner and Swarovski, is reminiscent of the deeply historical and sensitive menswear designs that have made Wales Bonner one of LVMH’s 2016 most promising finalists. It’s quite a departure from the harnesses and body-con stage costumes FKA twigs usually wears in concerts, but it appeared like second-skin nonetheless. Which is why it’s difficult to imagine that Wales Bonner and Barnett only just recently met.
When Barnett attended Wales Bonner’s Fall 2016 fashion show during men’s Fashion Week, she had a visceral response to what she saw. “I related straightaway to how true her work is. You can really feel her and her culture and her upbringing in what she creates,” she says via email. “I felt so emotional when I saw the clothes and I don’t even know her personally. I just had this massive sense of pride at how much time she takes in her work and how, sort of, curated the fashion was. It really touched me to see somebody out there who clearly cares about her work as much as I do mine.” Wales Bonner similarly responded to Barnett’s rigor and ambition; as she made her first foray into womenswear, FKA twigs proved a perfect muse. “I would like the Wales Bonner woman to reflect those qualities and that strength and elegance,” Wales Bonner writes from India, where she is currently researching her next project.
This was her first venture into costuming, but it felt like the right challenge for the 25-year-old designer. As Barnett freely admits, “I think I’m different from a lot of other performers at the moment in the sense that I might just start rolling around on the stage and I might not even know myself what I’m going to be do before I start just dancing.” These graceful but erratic bursts of movement—a mix of awe-inspiring ballet, vogueing, and free form—necessitated many fittings beforehand, with the two women working to develop a look that showed a good balance of skin, worked with that unpredictable movement, and ultimately made Barnett feel safe. To bring out the ethereal elements of purity and spirituality that FKA twigs’s performance evokes, Wales Bonner turned again to Swarovski; both designer and musician have collaborated with the company in the past. At the end of her performance last week, Barnett flung off her robe to reveal a costume embellished with Wales Bonner’s inspired mix of cowrie shells and Swarovski crystals. They glittered with every stealth dance move she made, signaling, we can only hope, even more dazzling moments to come.
Watch Vogue.com’s most popular videos now:
How FKA twigs"s Glittering Grace Wales Bonner Costume Came to Be
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen