From its origins in the Italian Renaissance to the 21st century’s most boundary-pushing contemporary works, ballet has remained in constant dialogue with the world of fashion, from how certain silhouettes move with the body to what they communicate on stage.
Ballet’s connection with fashion can be traced back centuries, from the ornate, layered costumes that mirrored the opulence of royal courts, to the Romantic era, which introduced the first iconic silhouette of the tutu and a newly ethereal quality of movement. By the 1930s, this evolution expanded beyond the costume shop and into direct conversation with the emerging world of high fashion, fueled in part by Sergei Diaghilev’s Les Ballets Russes and the rise of balletomania (a term popularized by Arnold Haskell, meaning an intense enthusiasm for the art form).
In the 20th century, this dialogue deepened. Visionary collaborations between choreographers and designers redefined the lengths in which a choreographer or company could go to elevate a piece by working with prominent voices in fashion. Coco Chanel designed costumes for Diaghilev’s Les Ballets Russes and became closely embedded within his circle of creative innovators. Nearly 30 years later, Yves Saint Laurent brought bold color and modern lines to Roland Petit’s work for the Opéra National de Paris. Moments like these marked a gradual shift: costumes were no longer simply decorative or narrative, but integral to the choreography and art itself.
By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, these collaborations became a constant in the development of new work. Over time, this influential relationship has evolved beyond stages and runways, bridging the world of haute couture and mainstream shopping, with designers and retailers alike drawing on ballet-inspired aesthetics, from soft pink palettes to the rise of “balletcore.” This evolution has been gradual, and can be traced back to brands such as Danskin, originally a streamlined dancewear company that, in the 1970s, introduced the slogan “Danskin, not just for dancing,” inviting a broader consumer audience to adopt the silhouettes and styles seen in the studio.
Fashion houses like Miu Miu, Christian Dior, Christian Louboutin, and Maison Margiela have taken part in this modern-day revival of balletomania, with mainstream retailers and celebrity brands following suit. However, the fashion dialogue that moves beyond topical or traditional depictions of the ballerina or “dancer-off-duty” aesthetic, is the one that keeps the art and the choreography at its center.
