ABOUT COLLECTION

Collection Theme « Bal de Fleurs »

The Jardin des Costumes 1st collection in Paris, the city of flowers, features a line-up of 12 ballet costumes made with haute couture techniques. Like the Jardin in the brand's name, the Jardin is inspired by a garden full of various flowers, and the eight flowers and the four elements necessary for plant growth (sunlight, water, air and soil) have been designed as ballet costumes. After watching the show, you will feel as if you have seen a new ballet piece.

The eight flowers - cherry blossom, plum blossom, rose, lily of the valley and cornflower etc.- were designed with inspiration from their shapes and the language of flowers. For some of the costumes, I tried new challenges, such as using fabrics that my grandmother had carefully preserved for many years, employing special materials that are not used for ordinary ballet costumes, and coordinating decorative parts made using traditional Japanese craft techniques.

By the way, you may wonder why a Japanese person would present a collection of ballet costumes in Paris, the home of ballet.

There are currently over 250,000 ballet population in Japan, and many professional Japanese dancers are active in ballet companies abroad. Naturally, costumes have also developed significantly over the more than 100 years of Japanese ballet history. Based on this history, we have added the strengths and traditional culture of the Japanese, such as the delicacy of attention to detail and advanced handwork, to propose new costumes for ballet that only Japanese artists can realize.

Furthermore, a great collaboration has been come true to make this project a reality. 

An artist who works with wood carving, one of Japan's traditional crafts, and a musician who has inherited the French esprit, have lent their strength to this collection.

The artist who works with wood carving, Mr. Akihiko Maeda of the Maeda Woodworks will produce props to represent the ‘ball’ and decorative parts for the costumes. Come to the show to find out in what way the wooden sculptures that adorn Japanese festivals will collaborate with the ballet costumes.

The musician, clarinetist Mami will create original show music and will also perform live on stage on the day of the show. Stay tuned for seeing how the music she creates, who is also a fitness trainer, will be performed on the Paris runway.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Akiko KIMURA, representative of Jardin des Costumes, has started ballet since childhood and, although not a professional dancer, has been taking lessons continuously for 42 years and has extensive stage experience. She has been making ballet costumes with this experience for more than 20 years.

Costume production at Jardin des Costumes starts with discussions with the client to identify latent needs that he or she may not even be aware of. Our greatest advantage is that we do not just take orders, but have the skills to think from the planning stage together with the client. We place great emphasis on this ‘pre-design’ stage. If this ‘pre-design’ stage is not completed, a unique costume cannot be created.

Of course, in terms of technique, she has studied the basics at fashion schools such as ESMOD, and she also research specifications based on an understanding of ballet movements and patterns that make the dancer's body look beautiful, and make improvements to them every year. As a result of it, the product has been highly praised by principal dancers in the European National Opera Ballet.　

In 2023, Jardin des Costumes launched a rehearsal skirt made of ALL recycled materials, and develops environmentally friendly products.

Design sources are found in everyday life. In particular, she is inspired by things in nature; the colors, shapes and scents of plants, the colors of the sky, the shapes of clouds, sunlight and the movement of water. She is also interested in old textiles, garments and paintings, but on the other hand, impressed by cutting-edge fashion design.

Jardin des Costumes is a small Japanese brand, far away from France. We can and have made many beautiful costumes for classical productions such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. However, with this collection, we are proposing new costumes for the future of ballet. We are not trying to be eccentric, but rather to create designs that are comfortable to wear, easy to dance in and that many people will find beautiful as ballet costumes.

In recent years, the barriers between ballet and fashion have become very low. Wouldn't it be interesting to see ballet costumes in the form of runway show collections?

Through this collection, “Bal de Fleurs”, we hope to meet choreographers and directors who would like to work with Jardin des costumes to create new ballet works. 

Of course, we also welcome calls from other genres creator or artists. Let's bring performing arts to more people together with us!