The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Starmania, Nicolas Ghesquière's new stylistic odyssey

2022-10-01T03:42:44.018Z


The mythical rock opera returns! Signed for Louis Vuitton by the most influential fashion designer of his generation, the suits perpetuate the magic. Exclusive interview.


Between

Starmania,

a prophetic, futuristic, timeless work, and Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of Louis Vuitton women's collections, whose visionary grammar impresses with each collection, the correlation is obvious.

So when, last February, Raphaël Hamburger, the son of France Gall and Michel Berger, approached him to offer to design the costumes for the new version of

Starmania,

the designer did not resist.

Read alsoThe Louis Vuitton show travels through the ages and closes Fashion Week in majesty

This child of the 1970s was rocked by the cult songs and iconic characters of this rock opera imagined by Michel Berger and Luc Plamandon, presented for the first time in 1979 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

In four decades, it will have brought together more than 6 million spectators.

Like everyone else, the young Nicolas hummed 

When we arrive in town, Le Blues du businessman, Le monde est stone

or

Need love.

And, later, the images of the Black Stars, those of Cristal (France Gall) or Stella (Diane Dufresne) all, one day, crossed his moodboards.

In video, the Louis Vuitton show during Paris Fashion Week 2022

In this new edition of the phenomenal show, directed by Thomas Jolly and choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, it is therefore Nicolas Ghesquière, cerebral creator and passionate about contemporary art in the broad sense, who signs all the costumes of the characters.

“It was a real challenge, he underlines, but also an exceptional collective adventure.”

An adventure that blends as well with his personal universe as it resonates in today's world.

A stylistic odyssey of which he tells us behind the scenes and the manufacturing secrets.

Miss Figaro.

How did this collaboration for this new

Starmania come about?


Nicolas Ghesquiere.

One day, Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak, the artistic directors of the graphic studio M/M, with whom I have been collaborating for years, call me.

It was last January.

"We are working on a secret project with Raphaël Hamburger, they tell me, and we all thought of you to join this adventure."

When I found out later that it was

Starmania,

I was flattered and very emotionally touched.

For those who grew up in the 1970s,

Starmania

is a Proust madeleine.

The idea of ​​participating in the 2022 version of this visionary and premonitory work, of passing it on to new generations is very exciting.

Why did they call on you specifically?


Raphaël and Thierry Suc, the producer, told me that they needed a particular French sensibility for the costumes.

I was surprised because I'm not necessarily expected on this ground, but that's what convinced me even more to accept this project.

It's crazy how this dystopian work is still so relevant today.

Nicolas Ghesquiere

Did you see the first

Starmania?


No, I was only 8 at the time of the first version, but I grew up with the songs (my parents were fans of the show) and I watched a lot of the images of the performances of the various artists on television .

The costumes were also very successful.

I also adored France Gall and Michel Berger, whose entire production I find wonderful.

And especially

Starmania

, which I'm rediscovering again with a more mature look.

It's crazy how this dystopian work is still so relevant today.

How did you start the creative process?


Raphaël Hamburger (the son of Michel Berger and France Gall, guarantor of his parents' artistic heritage, editor's note) first came to see me to share with me his vision of

Starmania.

Then he invited me to his studio to listen to the new recordings of the songs with the musicians.

I arrived when they were all rehearsing

Ce soir, on danse à Naziland.

It was magical !

This D-day really helped me to go down in history.

From there, I got to work...

It's the first time you've signed costumes for a show.

Is it very different from what you imagine for your fashion collections?


Yes, you have to think about movement because these are characters who move on stage, sing, dance... Besides, I had already designed costumes for singers (Mick Jagger, Lauryn Hill, Kelis), so I had in mind all these requirements.

What is also very important is the relationship to scale.

When you're on stage in front of a large audience, the messages of colors and shapes have to be very visually legible, precise, and you can pick them up from a distance.

Especially with heroes who interact in duos like in

Starmania.

The day I made the first visit to the studio, I had already drawn everything from A to Z, and I made it a point of honor to present my sketches myself to all the artists.

Who did you start with?


By Marie-Jeanne, the automaton waitress, because I love her songs, and by Cristal, the star TV presenter from Monopolis, whose character touches me a lot.

It is a shooting star, sacrificed on the altar of fame, which burns its wings by dint of approaching the sun.

She realizes that she could be happy other than by notoriety, expressing herself in other battles such as that of ecology, for example.

Initially, her dress is sparkling with a lamé jersey bottom that reflects the light and is embroidered by hand with microsequins.

The images of France Gall, whose outfit seemed haloed with sparks, came back to me.

I then visualized Cristal as a fairy that sparkles all the time, with a multitude of sequins that

How many costumes did you have to imagine?


About forty in all for the main protagonists, not counting the dancers and the Black Stars.

First I made a sketchbook, then I started to build my outfits.

I also collaborated with a marvelous costume designer, Jürgen Doering, with whom I had already worked on the series

Irma Vep

,

by Olivier Assayas.

Most of the costumes were created in the Louis Vuitton workshops.

It was very important for me, because I wanted to build them under the same conditions as the collections I sign for the house, with as much precision and exacting standards.

Through this new Ziggy, I especially wanted to express freedom of expression.

Nicolas Ghesquiere

Can you tell us about Ziggy, this “boy like no other”…


There are a lot of Ziggy in 2022… Young people who achieve a thousand things at once (like him) and who assume to be non-binary, c that is to say, to embrace the masculine as well as the feminine.

Ziggy also possesses a form of naivety in him.

He allows himself to be manipulated because he wants to succeed at all costs, but that does not prevent his artistic side.

Through this new Ziggy, I especially wanted to express freedom of expression.

He wears a tuxedo jacket embroidered with shredded lace (so we don't know if it's a masculine or feminine piece) over silver metallic jeans.

And nothing under the jacket, as we have seen on a Timothée Chalamet for example…

Sadia the revolutionary seems, on the other hand, very sexualized in her bodied dress.

What did you want to express through her outfit?


It is also very significant in today's world.

Of all these girls who show their bodies by choice, to affirm their femininity, their power and above all their freedom from the dominant male gaze.

Sadia is therefore very conscious of her body.

I imagined this aged leather dress for her, as if inspired by a recognizable motorcycle body at first glance, which she wears with black thigh-high boots.

He is a very assertive urban character, who is not afraid to provoke in the street...

Forty years ago, Starmania already alerted us to the ecological emergency and societal divisions.

Nicolas Ghesquiere

How to explain that the themes addressed in the

Starmania

of the 1970s are still relevant in 2022?


Yes, it's all there, it's crazy.

The polluted world, the quest for fame, the class struggle, the question of gender... Forty years ago,

Starmania

already alerted us to the ecological emergency and societal divisions, it's touching and worrying at the same time, because all these issues addressed in the 1970s have still not found answers.

And the malaise of all these sensitive characters, their desire to screw everything up, their frustrations and their need for love resonate glaringly with our current society.

The character of Ziggy, who dreams of obtaining his quarter of an hour of fame by passing in the

in order to access the elite world of Monopolis, also addresses this theme of dazzling celebrity, as we can see it today on social networks with the benefits and damage that this entails...

Precisely, how did you transcribe the

Starmania

spirit in today's world?


By drawing inspiration from a job that I do every season, namely to reflect the times, to capture it as best as possible.

It is important to tell the spectators who will discover this new

Starmania

that there is nothing nostalgic or retro about the stylistic gesture.

My source of inspiration is very contemporary.

I can't wait to see how the new generations will recognize themselves, identify themselves perhaps in this version...

There are also many hidden references in this opera: Monopolis, which refers to Fritz Lang's

Metropolis

, Naziland, which recalls Studio 54, the futuristic universe which transcribes the atmosphere of

1984

by George Orwell, or Zero January , which summons

Orson Welles'

Citizen Kane .

Do all these quotes resonate with you?


Yes, I noted all these references and, above all, they helped me to understand the genesis of the writing of the characters.

1984,

for example, is aesthetically very strong in the perception of the Black Stars, in the neutral severity of their uniforms… Studio 54 too, for the idea we have of flamboyance and decadence.

A decadence which symbolizes excess and which, once again, takes on its full meaning today in this world which calls us to a new form of sobriety.

What will exist when everything has been burned down?

It is really no coincidence that this opera is reborn today.

But living in a more "appropriate" way does not mean stopping artistic freedom, it should not curb the desire to do and create.

This is also what Starmania

expresses ,

which nevertheless delivers a glimmer of hope, an optimistic message for the days to come.

We understand that this artistic freedom speaks to you, you who have always mixed several territories (music, dance, art…) in your fashion.

Has

Starmania

further widened your field of vision?


One thing is certain: what I learned during this experience will resurface one day or another in my creations.

Listening to the music of

Starmania again,

working on the psychology of the characters, on their clothing identities inevitably influences my vision and my inspiration.

Yes, there will certainly be Cristal, Stella or Ziggy in my future collections.

Starmania

, from November 8 at La Seine Musicale, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), and on tour from February 10, 2023. starmania-officiel.com

Source: lefigaro

All life articles on 2022-10-01

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.