Ballet styles infiltrated mainstream fashion a long time ago. Where would we be without our classic ballet flats? Tutu-influenced skirts and leotard-style bodysuit are less than wardrobe staples but are no less enduring. Now the time has come for fashion to infiltrate the ballet.
Alpha60 have collaborated with the Australian Ballet to create a limited edition unisex t-shirt. It is not the first time fashion and ballet have met so overtly; other renowned designers, including our own Akira Isogawa, have designed costumes with dance in mind in the past. Indeed, it is not even the first time Alpha60 has merged with the ballet; Alex Cleary, one half of the designer duo, used to work for the Australian Ballet in merchandising way back when. Of this new collaboration the ballet’s Artistic Director David McAllister says, “their image of Parisian businessmen, one inexplicably wearing pointe shoes and a tutu, is beautifully witty”.
This marks the start of the Ballet v. Fashion project which will run from now through to 2012. There are only 100 of these Alpha60 tees available and they are sold exclusively through the Australian ballet’s online shop for just $50.
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