The Cloth of the Land |
Liam and the Wolfhounds |
The Stolen Child |
The Cloth of the Land |
Liam and the Wolfhounds |
The Stolen Child |
Omar Sy & Alexia Giordano 'Le Beau Dormant' for J.M. Weston |
Avoiding a literal interpretation of the source material, Kane’s collection focuses on the film’s motifs rather than attempting to replicate the character’s wardrobe. Drawn to Belle’s every-girl charm, the collection focuses on clothes with real-world appeal—biker jackets and transparent blouses as opposed to oversize ball gowns. “I liked that she wasn’t a princess,” said Kane. “I know that now everyone now considers her a princess, but to me she was just a normal girl who went off and had an adventure. She dreamed of more for herself and had aspirations.”
Though the movie’s motifs make their way onto multiple pieces, don’t expect any dresses akin to the one Belle wears for her famous dance scene. “I didn’t want to do the yellow dress. I think people were expecting that and to me it just seems too obvious,” said Kane. “I don’t think it’s necessarily something that should be taken out of the world of the film.”
Kane’s signatures also make an appearance with colorful lace skirts and unorthodox florals providing visual interest. Reworking the magical rose that signals the time left before the Beast’s transformation becomes permanent, Kane added a spooky twist befitting the dark side of fairy tales. “It’s one of the great symbols of the film and we wanted to play with it,” says Kane. “I like making flowers a little scary, so we have the oversize creeping rose.” Wound across lacy tops or covered in Swarovski crystals on sweatshirts, the emblem is feminine and foreboding. Even the humorous side of the film gets a tribute with necklaces and brooches covered in miniature teapots and saucers. “There’s just something very whimsical about the idea of wearing a tiny tea set as jewelry.”
Even with all attention to detail, the collection’s defining feature may be its commitment to the environment. A collaboration with sustainable brand consultancy Eco-Age to use ethical sourcing, sustainable materials, and local artisans on two looks the final product represents luxury at its most conscious.
This marks the first time that Disney and Christopher Kane have collaborated with Eco-Age, a consulting firm specialised in business sustainability. The goal: to prove that ethics and aesthetics can go hand in hand, and that brands can create narratives by highlighting their choice of materials and manufacturing techniques.
The collection was also created to respect the GCC Principles of Sustainable Excellence, meaning it was ethically sourced and manufactured.
The designer partnered with Eco-Age and Disney on a capsule collection that he describes as "don't mess with me" pretty.
Speaking to Firth and Kane, it's clear that they believe this is just the beginning of making sustainability in fashion the norm. "The red carpet is the most powerful communication arm that exists," says Firth. "It's not about, 'What are you wearing?' It's 'Who are you wearing?' What are the hands behind your clothes? What stories [do you want to tell]?" On a larger scale, it's about making your voice heard and standing up for what you care about. "We all need to be more vocal and radical these days and be creative in how we think, as well as how we design." To that, we say: Be our guest.We also found this interview with Kane which asked some great and fun questions, both about movie inspired fashion and his thoughts on Belle and Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Here are some excerpts from Elle.com:
Disney does tons of fashion collaborations...
I think they've earned it. Where would we be, as fashion people, without fantasy? We fuel our whole industry on it. And for most of us—definitely for me—Disney was one of the first places to give us images of fantasy. They run on dreams, and daydreams, don't they? So do we.
If you lived in the Beast's castle, what household item would you be?
I would be a bed. Actually, I would be a duvet. I would be a nice cashmere blanket. I could be cozy and in bed all the time. And it could be cashmere from our collection so everyone would know it was me.
You haven't done a cashmere blanket for this collection, but you did make a skirt out of blue rubber bows.
Because when you think of every Disney heroine—Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine—they're all wearing blue! It's a thing. "Disney Blue." So I wanted to capture that element, but then also, that's a piece from my archive. And I like that it looks like armor, even though it's made of bows, which I think is really quite sweet, because obviously, Belle is very guarded. She's got her walls up.
She's all about roses, too, and those have thorns.Nice to read some insightful thoughts! You can see more pieces, especially the casual items, from the collection HERE.
Exactly! And also, in Beauty and the Beast, the rose is kind of a symbol of judging people before you should, isn't it? The falling petals are kind of the countdown on his curse, and I always think it's so sad in the film because when you see the rose, you're reminded of how sad people can be with their judgments. It's a good reminder to give things a chance.
At Cartoon Movie festival : Wolfwalkers movie by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart / Cartoon Saloon |
Wolfwalkers teaser at Cartoon Movie festival March 9th |
Cartoon Saloon’s next feature (FTNH Ed: after 'The Breadwinner') is expected to be Tomm Moore’s third, and another piece of Irish folklore. As you can see... Moore is dabbling with lycanthropy, though with a definite twist. According to Moore... the film draws on Oliver Cromwell’s decision to ‘tame Ireland’ by slaughtering their wolves.
The inclusion of a character called Mebh (pronounced like Maeve) might be an allusion to Táin Bó Cúailnge, the episode of the Ulster cycle that deals with the driving off of the cows of Cooley.The lead for this film was changed, fairly early on, from a little boy (like the previous two films main protagonists were) to a girl, which means we'll be looking at a 'girl friendship' film - something which is still unusual in animation (and not just there, either). Here's some concept art, the pencil drawings by Moore:
It's set during the English Civil War in the mid 1600s but Oliver Cromwell decided he was going to symbolically tame Ireland by killing all the Wolves. So he sent all these hunters over, and if they killed a certain amount of wolves they got a bit of land. So the main protagonist is this little boy from England who comes over with his Dad, and he arrives actually near where I live in Killkenny. And he runs up against that around here wolves weren't seen as baddies, they were actually seen as people. The belief was that wolves were people that St Patrick had put a curse on when they wouldn't convert from paganism. So a lot of people believed that wolves.. especially around the Killkenny area.. were people. So that's the kind of premise! I won't tell you any more than that...
“It’s just the beginning of happily ever after for Rapunzel and Eugene. As Rapunzel reacquaints herself with her parents, her kingdom and the people of Corona, she comes to realize that there is so much more she needs to learn about the world and herself before she becomes Princess of Corona. With the help of her handmaiden and friend, Cassandra, and Eugene, she begins to find the adventure she desires right outside her door. Life is about to get a little hairier!”
In addition to Moore and Levi, the cast includes Ashley Judd, who plays Rapunzel’s mother Queen Arianna, and Broadway actress Eden Espinosa as Rapunzel’s handmaiden and close friend Cassandra.As you can see from the promotional artwork and clips, the movie and series are no longer CG but very stylized traditional animation, returning to more of a storybook quality. Turns out fans are really happy about this, feeling like they'll be getting fairy tales again. (Nice to know!) In fact, the response has been so positive, the series has been confirmed as renewed for a second season, even before the first has aired. That's fairly unusual, so you know what that means: people want their fairy tales!
Victorian Opera stages Respighi's Sleeping Beauty with full size puppets designed & built by Joe Blanck |
“Sleeping Beauty is not your typical love story,” Blanck says. “It’s more about the tragedy, and how people deal with that. Those are the things we’re trying to bring to the surface of the story.”
Director Nancy Black has conceived a production which sees a group of people joining together to tell a story after some kind of traumatic event. They conjure up the tale of Sleeping Beauty out of thin air.“
We’ve kind of left it open to interpretation, creating a community of people come together — whether they’re poor or refugees or something else, it’s not really said,” Blanck says.“
That happens at so many events, whether it be at a funeral, or in the aftermath of something else entirely — people come together and tell stories.” (Daily Review)
In 2017, you’ll be returning to Victorian Opera to direct another forgotten gem of the early 20th century with Respighi’s The Sleeping Beauty. What have you enjoyed about discovering this opera?
Oh my goodness. So much. First of all the music is beautiful, very lyrical, and also funny. The opera is filled with interesting characters- from the lovers to animals to satirical representatives of capitalism. It is romantic but also lightly nuanced with philosophical and even political references. At the beginning Respighi seems to be taking us through a traditional rendition of a well known fairy tale, but then his narrative leaps forward in time to what he imagined would be 1940, and he incorporates mid- 20th Century dance rhythms. Our vision for the work needs to incorporate all of those elements! What an exciting challenge!
You’ve worked extensively with puppetry in the past and will be working alongside production designer Joe Blanck to create this fascinating blend of opera and puppetry. How are you planning to approach the production?
After reading the libretto, I knew I wanted to approach this work as though it was a community of people telling a story. It is a village. Maybe they have come through hard times. When Respighi wrote this Italy was still struggling with the aftermath of WWI and the devastation of the Spanish Flu. In setting the celebratory end in 1940, he could not have known what lay ahead.
I am fascinated by our human need for story. Even before mankind had written language, we have used stories as a tool for bringing order out of chaos, for giving us meaning when reason has failed, for instilling hope.
In our production, a group gathers around a fire; it’s a lovely night. An ember leaps into the air. It becomes a nightingale puppet, whose song is picked up by one of the singers. The story unfolds as a combined effort with some taking the singing parts, others the puppetry. Together they tell a story that initially takes them away from their present into a beautiful fantasy, but then weaves itself back into their reality.
I don’t want to give away too many details, but our creative team that includes Joe, Ben Cobham, Philip Lethlean and Michelle Heaven are devising a production design that draws inspiration from the exquisite illustrations of Kay Nielsen and organic shapes from our forests. The puppetry will use several forms, always provoking and teasing the imagination, with circus and dance skills adding to what we hope will be a visual delight.
Nancy Black, from the Victorian Opera Educational Material |
Is this something that a child today could attend?
Yes, absolutely. Each character is clearly defined musically and children will certainly be able to follow the story very easily, and will be swept along by the storytelling of the puppets and singers.
I think what will surprise the audience is Respighi’s ability to jump effortlessly from style to style and from mood to mood. He inserts a Cakewalk or Foxtrot in amongst the neoclassical Marches and Minuets to keep the audience on their toes and this really shows Respighi’s sense of humour shining through. The tone poems are large expansive works whereas his writing here is more compact. He uses styles that are familiar but inserts unexpected harmonies and syncopations to give a modern feel to the work.
Respighi notably had a real sense of humour when composing The Sleeping Beauty. There are plenty of musical allusions and parodic elements in the score – what has it been like discovering them with the orchestra?
I’ve had a few laugh-out-loud and ‘oooh’ moments when I realised what Respighi was quoting, as well as the slow recognition of more subtle moments that he has borrowed from other works. I feel that rather than being direct parodies they are compliments to other composers and intended to trigger memories and emotions for the audience.