Jul 30, 2010
Victoria Robinson

Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes was a groundbreaking company, encompassing dance, music, visual art and so much more. Based in Paris, the artistic hotpot of Europe in the early twentieth century, it stormed its way through cultural life. This autumn, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is holding an exhibition to celebrate this – Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes.

Many productions had a distinctly Eastern feel, which directly inspired the more relaxed, comfortable clothing that we wear today. The opulent designs of Lon Bakst were particularly influential. The Ballets Russes certainly had an impact on fashion history.

It is appropriate that a Russian company bought an Eastern influence to the West: the country reaches from Europe to the Far East, and has influenced, and been influenced by, a huge range of cultures throughout its rich history.

The influence of the Ballets Russes can be seen in the designs of Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret, two of the most important founders of modern Western dress.

The Impact of the Ballets Russes on Coco Chanel

Few designers can claim to have had the impact of the legendary Coco Chanel. She pretty much invented the way we dress today, moving women away from bustles and corsetry and into trousers and little black dresses. The imagery of Ballets Russes had a profound impact on her work.

She was heavily influenced by Russia in the 1920s, and one of her most beautiful and innovative perfumes, Cuir de Russie, was inspired by the rich, birch scented leather of Cossack boots. She also had a ‘roubachka’ style peasant blouse made in crepe de chine for her affluent customers, and many of her designs featured the brightly coloured embroidery typical of Russia.

Many Russians emigrated to Paris around the time of the 1917 revolution. Their cultural impact was phenomenal, and Chanel was at the centre of it. She had a contract with Kitmir House of Embroidery, founded by the exiled Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Romanova, and was the lover of Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, for one year.

She was, of course, involved with the fashionable Ballets Russes. Chanel designed costumes for four productions, notably Le Train Bleu in 1924 and Apollon Musagete (Apollo, Leader of the Muses) in 1929. According to Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s current creative director, she, “…helped Diaghilev to stage (his ballet) again after World War I in 1919″. Designing costumes for dancers was perfect for a designer whose clothes liberated women and allowed them to move more freely. She once said that, I have always tried to give women a feeling of being at ease with their time.

It was not only creative inspiration that drew her to the Ballets Russes. She had an affair with Igor Stravinsky, who composed some of the greatest work of the company. Le Sacre du Printemps (Rite of Spring) had a particularly powerful impact – the violent rhythms, combined with the pagan ferocity of Vaslav Nijinsky’s choreography, actually sparked a riot in the aisles of the Thtre de Champs lyses on its opening night in 1913.

Lagerfeld himself is hugely inspired by the Ballets Russes. He recently designed a costume for the English National Ballet’s production of The Dying Swan as part of its Ballets Russes season (indeed, the company was founded by two Ballets Russes dancers: Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin). At the time, he commented that, “As a child, I was already inspired by old images of Anna Pavlova dancing the ballet”.

Chanel has a lipstick called Ballet Russe as part of its Rouge Coco line. It is a rich, dark purplish red.

The Impact of the Ballets Russes on Paul Poiret

The Ballets Russes did not only inspire Coco Chanel. Known as ‘Le Magnifique’ in France and the ‘King of Fashion’ in the United States, Paul Poiret, like Chanel, laid the foundations of today’s style of dress in the West, moving away from the heavily sculpted looks of corsetry and towards a more relaxed, draped aesthetic. The inspiration for this look came from the East, and his collections featured turbans, Indian style trousers and his signature ‘lampshade’ tunics.

Diaghilev’s ballets chimed with this infuence, and Poiret was said to be particularly impressed by the Ballets Russes staging of Schhrazade in 1910. It seems the production boosted his confidence to give his imagination full reign. The rich colours in the work of Lon Bakst particularly inspired the designer. Poiret’s work continue to inspire modern designers such as Issey Miyake.

Influence of the Ballets Russes on Fashion Today

The late Alexander McQueen was inspired by the Ballets Russes, and the influence can be seen in some of his collections. Like Chanel, he designed a ballet costume – the crimson silk kimono worn by Sylvie Guillem for Russell Maliphant’s production of Eonnagata at Sadler’s Wells in June 2010.

Top model Erin O’Connor used Diaghilev as an inspiration when, aged nineteen, she had to perform a ballet routine to open a Dior show in Paris. Being quite shy at the time, she felt she needed a powerful personality to strengthen her.

Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by the Ballets Russes in the tribal designs of his 1970s collections.

Katy and Taylor and Terry Kirby, Chanel’s Lagerfeld Puts the Fashion Back in Ballet (London Evening Standard, 17th June 2009)
Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, Paul Poiret 1879-1944 (Thematic Essays, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Chanel and the Ballets Russes (English National Ballet Press Release, 28th May 2009)
Dr Orzada, Chanel’s Slavic Period 1920-24 (University of Delaware Website)

Paul Poiret Gown, La Gazette du Bon Ton, 1912 – Wikimedia Commons in public domain

Lon Bakst, Fantasy on Modern Costume, 1912 – Wikimedia Commons in public domain

Lon Bakst, Costume Design for Narcisse, 1911 – Wikimedia Commons in public domain