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First Report of Prada’s Costumes for the Metropolitan Opera’s Attila

By Nick Scholl Friday, Feb 19, 2010 / 3:15 PM GMT -4

Photo by Ken Howard, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Remember the item about Miuccia Prada’s distaste for the “curvy” extras cast for the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Verdi’s Attila? “I cannot clothe them! I need models!” she allegedly proclaimed. Well it’s unclear how that was resolved, but a live report from today’s dress rehearsal, via Parterre Box, gives us a hint of what to expect:

The costumes are runway-ready, all industrial leather and fur and boots and crumpled textures. Sometimes it looks rather silly. “Like my fur? It’s Prada, baby!” The Roman soldiers carry shields that look to me like enormous iPods. Coincidence? I think not! (Unsure what the connection would be, however!) The chorus dressed in jeans and rumpled designer t shirts and reminds me of Mark Morris' "Orfeo" just a bit. Are they a religious cult?

Prada, who lately has been mining motifs of past collections, has smartly done so for her Attila costumes. The leather strip fringe of her women’s dresses for fall 2009 now stream down a leather cape. The ubiquitous metal studs from the men’s collection pepper shoulders, a shirt front, and the tops of Attila’s boots. And the crumpled effect Prada used in her spring 2009 women’s collection now has a darker edge on long leather trenches, sometimes worn about the shoulders. The look is strong, simple, and clear. “I tried to express my vision of the characters from a psychological and historical point of view, and what they mean to me today[...] You have to do it in a way that is contemporary and understandable,” said Prada in a Met playbill feature.

Mockups for the set by Herzog & de Meuron look like they’d be right at home on the walls of Prada’s Tokyo epicenter store, which they also designed. The production, whose premiere I’ll be attending on Tuesday, is previewed and explained by Jacques Herzog in this short video.


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  • http://www.behrlenyc.com/ cdbehrle

    As a former costume designer, I am not impressed at all with the costumes – they are lacking in strength & gravity. (they also look cheap and poorly constructed, but as they only have to last 10 performances this was obviously not a concern, against the “name” value…) between the colors, and lack textural depth in the costumes the overall effect also renders the cast invisible from audience distance against the impressive, but overwhelming set.
    Really, costume design should be left to those who understand it. (ie: JPGaultier is a fashion designer who gets it. ) Fashion and Costume design are not interchangeable disciplines simply because they are both worn on the body.

  • http://nellgwynnesparadox.tumblr.com/ Nell Gwynne

    Actually, I've gotten to meet a costume cutter/fitter at the Met, and since the Met saves everything it can from productions, including costumes, because shows are performed in repertory, they HAVE to last. My consern would be that the leather would get awfully uncomfortable if you had to sing in front of the hot lights for hours on end. I agree, not greatly impressive.

  • Jamesay

    I attended the premiere – the sets and costumes were two disparate entities lacking co-herence, its as if the designers had designed for several different shows. As for what the stage director (Audi) had the cast do (well, no acting required, wandering about in the last scene on a black floor with a black wall behind them), was a disgrace that wouldnt “grace” the stage of any high school – this was a concert in costumes, paraded in front of a very large and monumental series of sets (which, by the fact that they took many minutes for minimalist scene changes) ruined any dramatic sense. Shame on a management who courted “names” at the expense of intelligent stage craft !

  • http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com laurasweet

    Take a look at Prada's sketches for the costumes here:

    http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2010/03/att...

  • http://www.plussizecostumesupercenter.com/ Sarah | Plus Size Costumes

    Most theatrical costumes are not that great, quality wise, closeup.

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