Dutch designer David Laport to create costumes for Nationale Opera & Ballet

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
May 8, 2018

Dutch fashion designer David Laport will partner with choreographer Peter Leung and the Young Creative Associate of the Dutch National Ballet on the creation of ballet costumes next month. The designs will be on view during the International Young Patrons Gala.

During the gala, one soprano and three dancers will wear Laport’s designs with Laport and Leung saying they are using the poetry of music, text, movement and sculptural design to express the emotions of the performers. Laport, who is known for his sculptural, weightless dresses, will create his pieces by hand.  

He said in a press release: “As a great admirer and ambassador of the International Young Patrons Gala of Dutch National Opera & Ballet, I am very honored that they offer me a platform for my creations, and that I can be part of the performance on this special evening.”

The event, which brings together talent in ballet and opera as well as the Junior Company of the National Ballet, will be held for the second time on 1 June at the Nationale Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam.  

The dancers will perform selections from opera and ballet classics such as La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte, Tristan and Isolde, and Swan Lake. Monique Wagemaker will direct the International Young Patrons Gala.

David Laport graduated in 2012 from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague and became a freelance designer. In 2014, during Amsterdam Fashion Week, he launched his own label and a year later, he presented his collection at Paris Fashion Week together with Vogue Nederland. Laport is a recipient of the 2017/18 European Woolmark Prize.

He is the latest in a line of young Dutch designers to create costumes for a ballet company. In February, couturier Iris van Herpen unveiled her designs for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen’s Pelléas et Mélisande show.