Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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PhotograPhy by rosalie o'Connor (danCers); C2 PhotograPhy (laursen) On pointe! above, from left: The clean lines of Maison Ullens's designs perfectly pair with the contemporary- meets-classical style of ASFB dancers; Maison Ullens's artistic director, Kim Laursen, seen here inside the Aspen boutique, blends city and high- country for his ideal client: the "Aspen Woman." Maison Ullens's artistic director crafts costumes for aspen santa Fe Ballet's 20th season. DESIGNER DANCING From Alexander McQueen to Jean Paul Gaultier, fashion designers have long teamed up with choreographers to create stunning, statement-making costumes for the stage and screen. So it came as no surprise that Aspen Santa Fe Ballet choreographer Cayetano Soto accepted the offer when Belgian fashion house Maison Ullens came knocking. The brand—which has boutiques in London, Paris, and Aspen—wanted its artistic director, Kim Laursen, to design the costumes for Huma Rojo, the third piece choreo- graphed for the Aspen nonprofit by the 41-year-old Spanish-born Soto. The ballet debuted in Aspen in February and is currently touring around the globe through the summer. "I was seduced by his universe," Laursen, 47, says of his first meeting with Soto in Paris last December. "His work is very fluid and very sensual and dramatic, and I wanted to create some- thing that complemented that." The final product found Maison Ullens's signature cotton-blend knitwear in a bold red combined with structural pants and pure lines—no fringe, no ruffles, no feathers—that created a dynamic interplay with the movement of the dancers during Soto's festive piece for the ballet's 20th-anni- versary season. "It was a great surprise," Soto says. "I have one of the more beautiful costumes I've ever had in my life." aspensantafeballet.com; maisonullens.com . 76 aspenpeak-magazine.com STYLE Collab