BEHIND THE SCENES WITH NOIR AND LUCKYLEO DANCEWEAR

This project was a true collaboration of handcrafted work. First of all, Chelsea and Heather of Luckyleo Dancewear created two custom dresses to highlight a ballerina’s movement. Their company specializes in custom ballet leotards and bodysuits. I began brainstorming specific details about the dress (aside from fabric) and imagined some type of cape along the dancer’s shoulders. And usually my train of thought goes like this: emotion… movement… FLOWERS. Haha.

I've worked with Malori of Hoot & Holler many times before. Now Malori created a new sister company that specializes in custom floral work: Noir Floral Styling - which was a perfect fit for our vision. I originally wondered what it would look like to create a bodice with fresh flowers. After meeting with the ladies of Luckyleo Dancewear and Malori, we started exploring a shoulder/cape piece.

We had the unique opportunity of creating a Behind the Scenes film that shows you glimpses of us creating a vision for the floral, shoulder component of the dress in Malori's studio and what the executed piece looks like in motion as I captured these stills. My studio manager Brooke assisted in filming me, and I directed the ballerina, Lilyana for both photos and video. Chelsea and Heather who are both trained dancers played a huge role in communicating specific dance moves that highlighted the movement of the fabric. I focused on movement that communicated emotion, such as her pushing through the fabric, hiding behind it, or becoming entangled by it.

I don't know what it is about dance - but I've always had such a strong connection with it. It was truly an inspiring project to be a part of and I only hope to continue creating more pieces like this. And with that... the film :)