Scott Shapiro styles the artists from the BalletCollective in DEMOBAZA

For the latest installation Translation, the New York-based fashion editor and stylist works with assorted pieces from the DEMOBAZA collections.

Since premiering in June, NYC’s BalletCollective latest immersive installation Translation has been praised as a breathtaking, magical and infinite landscape of moving light and shadow. Choreographed by acclaimed artistic director Troy Schumacher, this 55-minute, meditative performance features six dancers moving in silhouette through shifting planes of projected light, surrounded by music from Julianna Barwick and an immersive installation by Sergio Mora-Diaz.

Not your usual night at the ballet, huh? Created in collaboration with Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author Ken Liu, Translation invites audiences into a space suspended between memory, message, and dream. Currently this acclaimed contemporary ballet is on an extended run inside The Culture Club a brand-new venue at 530 West 27th Street, inside New York City's most storied venue for immersive theatre.

Along with collaborating with Jeff Koons, Thom Browne, Christopher Wheeldon and Benjamin Millepied, Schumacher has his work featured in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center and Guggenheim Museum as well as working on projects for brands like Sony, Tom Ford, HP. When it was time to style Translation, the artistic director decided to work with Scott Schapiro.

Infinite landscape of moving light and shadow sounds like a tagline from a DEMOBAZA campaign, so it is no wonder the New York-based fashion director and stylist decided to approach the Sofia-based brand for an exclusive collaboration on the costumes. The brand feels like a perfect fit for the visual direction and narrative.

Scott was approached by the BalletCollective team to work on their fall campaign as well as this production of Translation. After speaking with them regarding the performance's previous iteration, they discussed how to reinterpret this with a unique and specific direction for wardrobe. I reviewed past performances of Translation before this current production, while the team also shared the idea of going in a futuristic, somewhat post-apocalyptic style for the costuming. We referenced Dune and other films to help draw inspiration for this.

As mentioned, Demobaza felt like a perfect fit, with several pieces that fit the futuristic, super modern direction the team wanted to go in for this performance. Troy, the artistic director of BalletCollective and choreographer of Translation brought the brand to my attention, and I reached out to the DEMOBAZA team in order to get a sense of how they'd like to be involved. After they were so kind to support us on this project, I dove into the brand's stock and archives online in order to find specific pieces that felt aligned with the performance.

Scott is quick to admit that working on a performance of this nature was a relatively new venture for him. Most of his styling is typically in editorial (Allure, Cultured Magazine, Document Journal, Exit Magazine, GQ, V Magazine) and commercial projects (Anthropologie, Apple, DKNY, Dr Martens, Tumi, Uniqlo), which has given him a lot of experience in using clothing in order to tell a story or follow a specific theme. However, in this case, I had to be more mindful of the various elements at play, like the clothing needing to be in motion and the live performance requiring precision in terms of fit and practicality.

Оf course, it won’t be a proper project without some minor obstacles. When the clothes arrived - thanks very much to Demo who happened to be in New York and saved the day after we ran into a customs delay with FedEx - we worked together in order to make sure the clothes fit each dancer properly and looked correct and cohesive together as a part of a whole performance. Adjustments and alterations were made in order to make sure everyone could move properly, referencing the choreography during rehearsals, overall making things work for a several week-run of Translation.

Translation runs till July 8^th. This is not the first, nor the last art collaboration for DEMOBAZA. The brand has previously collaborated with musical artists like Beyoncé, Empire of the Sun, Jisoo, Black Pink, Gims, Janet Jackson, Grimes, Kehlani, Tinashe, Ludmilla, Katy Perry, Gary Numan, Kate Von D, Justin Bieber and many more. Be sure to check the oceanic flow of DEMOBAZA clothes in Kristina Kameeva and Alexandra Gordeeva mesmerizing photos, along with work for movies like Dune, Men in Black: International, Black Panther and many more.

Shop DEMOBAZA collections here. Find more about Translation here.