COLLABORATORS
Costume Design for A / VOID
The costume design for A / VOID reflects our commitment to ethical artistry — Costume Designer Lorae Russo collaborated with William Calvert's RTV - Return to Vendor, the world's first truly circular brand, to create one-size-fits-most costumes for our dancers that are 100% recycled and recyclable. RTV is a reverse-engineered eco-system where all products are designed to be recycled. They collect discarded nylon from the ocean and land, making products that will be recycled into raw material for future products. Made from a single material sourced from discarded ocean nets, each piece helps keep harmful waste out of our oceans. By transforming reclaimed fishing nets into high-quality, 100% recyclable nylon, RTV unlocks mono-material apparel that closes the loop on waste. At the end of a product's life, RTV collects and recycles it entirely, ensuring it never returns to the environment.
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"One of the most important design concepts I want to convey is the complementary polarities of the human form existing within the architectural space. The one-size-fits-most pants and the neutrality of each costume piece intend to be nonreferential, familiar, and not identifiable to any specific genre, to exist in a dream-like space, and complement the unique character of each dance artist.
The rectangular shape of the ‘hood’ all of the dancers wear echoes the shape of the skrims, while draping over the human form to emphasize our connection to our surroundings. The materials used are intentionally sheer and meant to show the bodies of the dancers and their movements, without sexualizing them.
Upon visiting Chromasonic and considering the costumes for dancers, I imagined the play of light with the movement of the dancers using material similar to the skrims. Synchronistically, I was aligning with William Calvert on possible projects using RTV’s fully circular material, and the dots connected. He had the perfect materials in stock."
- Lorae Russo
LORAE RUSSO boasts a diverse background in fashion, theater, and film, working alongside acclaimed designers Michelle Cole and Michael Kaplan. For over thirty years, she has been a ‘V'- level executive, a thought leader, and a talented designer with expertise in bags, jewelry, and all accessory categories. Historically, she has been recruited to reinvigorate and transform up to 1.5B+-2.5M+ global luxury and mass-market brands, including Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, thesak, American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie, and The Gap. ​ Recently, she’s managed creative projects for fashion designer celebrity Kai Millard Morris and LW Films, whose clients are Beyonce and FX. Lorae’s artistic ability to aspire to the desired essence and nuance contributes to the art of storytelling.