MONUMENTAL FASHION: Most people would look at I.M. Pei’s glass-and-metal entrance way at the Louvre and see a pyramid. Jordan Roth saw major skirt inspiration — hence projections of the monument onto his giant white dress, transforming him into a beloved symbol of Paris on Thursday night.
Debuting his performance piece “Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty” at the Paris museum, Roth stood on a dais, donned the top of a three-hole dress and then slowly headed skyward until the skirt lengthened, bulged and billowed to the size of a granary.
Marisa Berenson, Stephen Jones, Michèle Lamy, Thom Browne, Zac Posen, Becca Cason Thrash, Alexis Mabille, Michel Gaubert and Johan Creten were among the throngs who assembled in the Cour Marly for the world premiere, which started out quietly with a glacial parade of six dancers/helpers in lab coats and white gloves.
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Eventually, Roth strolled in, looking forlorn and lost in his hooded white robe — until he stepped into a white meringue of a ballgown, and pleasure, pride and wonder spread across his face.
The performance unfurled in three acts. For the second, Roth traded his ballgown for massive winged appendages, more projections giving him bird or butterfly wings to try on.
Everyone was filming like there was no tomorrow.
A Broadway producer turned rabid fashion fan — and devoted couture client — Roth turned out to be bang on trend with his use of vaporous fabrics, seen earlier in the week on the couture runways of Balenciaga and Iris Van Herpen, who also attended on Wednesday night.
In an interview prior to his three back-to-back performances, Roth described them as “an invitation to explore the possibilities of beauty, of self-expression, of transformation, even transcendence.”
After the spectacle, guests were funneled into the fashion exhibition running at the museum through July 21 titled “Louvre Couture: Art and Fashion — Statement Pieces.” Roth was the live primer.
