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ON POINTE: LONDON-BASED DESIGNERS TRANSFORM BALLET SHOES

Erdem, Rejina Pyo and Roksanda are among the designers tasked with taking a standard-issue slipper and transforming it into something unmistakably their own. Go see for yourself...

14.07.2021

By Phoebe McDowell

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As part of a month-long festival of culture, windows in Covent Garden are showcasing some of the Royal Opera House’s finest garb, from costumes and tutus to hats and pointe shoes. For the latter, the famed institution has called upon some of London’s top designers to put their signature twist on a standard-issue shoe. Predictably, the results are spellbinding. Simone Rocha has pebbled hers in faux pearls, naturally, while Rejina Pyo has used the trinkets, buttons and shells that she usually employs as decorative buttons on her clothes, to tile hers to the nines.

Halpern’s features a fan of concertinaed fuchsia fabric while Liberty has wrapped theirs up in floral ribbon. Roksanda Ilinčić’s is painted in over-bright colours with broad brushstrokes, and Erdem’s, fancy and theatrical, is inky black and adorned with crystals.

Halpern

SIMONE ROCHA

Rejina Pyo

Liberty London

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The installation can be seen at The Royal Opera House Arcade, and is part of the The Theatrical Trail of Covent Garden, a self-guided tour through the area, which has been richly reimagined as a celebration of the arts. The pointe shoes can be won as part of a raffle, the proceeds from which will go to the Royal Opera House Recovery Campaign, which aims to redress the loss of earnings throughout the pandemic. Additional prizes include two tickets to a ROH performance, a dinner for two at the Piazza Restaurant, and a private tour of the Opera House.

   
  
 
 
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Part of ROH Unlocked, which opened last weekend and is running until 9 August, the festival will also play host to open-air performances on the Summer Stage on the Piazza outside Covent Garden’s famed Market Building. And the public can get involved too, working on their vocal scales and range, with English National Opera’s Aga Serugo-Lugo who will be leading workshops, perfecting their demi-pliés in a barre class, or, slightly more ambitiously, learning a Romeo + Juliet inspired dance.

For more information visit Roy London Opera.

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