Christopher Shannon has created a series of signature sportswear looks for visual artist Linder Sterling’s new ballet, The Children of the Mantic Stain, which premiered at The Leeds Gallery last night.
The narrative of the ballet follows two bored boys in a Northern town, and to create the looks, Shannon and Sterling delved into the designer’s archives, feeling that it was important that the styles didn’t feel like costumes, but were full looks that retain a reality and are relatable.
“I didn’t want to get into a ‘dance’ headspace and conform to existing ideas,” Christopher Shannon says in a release, “So we did a fitting with the dancers and worked on the narrative between the looks and the characters”. Shannon wanted the dancers to look and feel sexy, so the garment construction was adapted for movement and fit.
As well as Shannon’s instantly recognisable poppered sportswear looks, the designer worked with Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh to create an elaborately patterned, hand-tufted rug that is used in the performance.
The ballet is performed by dancers from the Northern Ballet, with choreography by Kenneth Tindall and music by film composer Maxwell Sterling.