FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Entertainment

Designer Franck Sorbier Projects An Haute Couture Fairy Tale

Using projection mapping on his main gown and backdrop, Sorbier brings his runway fantasy to life.

French designer Franck Sorbier marries haute couture with new technologies in his Fall/Winter 2012-2013 runway collection. Joining the ranks of designers like Hussein Chalayan and Iris Van Herpen, Sorbier flirts with tech and trend, using projection mapping on clothing to bring the two worlds together. The line’s statement piece is an elegant and seamless off the shoulder white ball gown offset by a sculptural black dress with a dramatic head piece. The white silhouette functions as a canvas unveiling Sorbier’s many layers of brilliance.

Teaming up with software giant Intel for the high-tech end of the project, the designer describes his collection as “a bridge between the past, the present and what the future could be.”

Putting a 21st-century spin on the classic French fairytale Peau d’Âne (Donkeyskin), Sorbier projects dazzling visual effects onto the gown and backdrop. The white-clad model represents the story’s princess, as images flash revealing her desire to flee from a marriage that she will soon be forced into. She seeks the guidance of a sorceress who advises her to agree to the marriage only if her future husband fulfills certain demands. The princess requests the impossible—a dress the color of the sky, another the color of the moon, and a third as bright as the sun.

The finale features pieces from Sorbier’s past collections serving as a reminder of couture’s timeless nature. Infusing technology with high fashion and fantasy with runway, Sorbier’s stylish princess gets her happy ending and so does his audience. A beating heart appears on the projected blood red gown before morphing into a mirage of fluttering butterflies. Who says fashion can’t set you free?