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Going toe to toe

Style Watch

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

February 05, 2012|By Tina Sutton

Jennifer Tani Miller, left. created this dramatic evening ensemble, worn… (Photograph by Erik Jacobs )

SPRING 2012 is filled with ballet-inspired fashions, with gorgeous examples from Chanel, Dior, Pitsch, and Tani Miller. Who’s that again? Sherika Pitsch and Jennifer Tani Miller are finalists in the “Design in Motion” competition cosponsored by Boston’s School of Fashion Design – where the two are students – and Boston Ballet.

“The scope of the competition was about fashion meshing with dance and inspired by it,” says Boston Ballet manager of costume and wardrobe Charles Heightchew, a contest judge along with company artistic director Mikko Nissinen. The pair say they looked for dramatic designs that women could wear to a gala but that also clearly focused on movement. At stake is a highly coveted hands-on internship at the Boston Ballet Costume Shop.

The contest was a perfect fit for 26-year-old Sherika Pitsch, who regularly attends ballet performances and just started taking floor-barre exercise classes. The Somerville resident says graceful movement was the major focus of her frothy gown, “and not just literal movement, but also the asymmetrical design of the layered tulle that moves your eye around.”

While Pitsch’s dress was ethereally classical, Tani Miller, 27, of Jamaica Plain was inspired by the more flamboyant costume styles of the historic Ballets Russes. “It was clear she looked at Leon Bakst drawings of the 1920s but gave it a sort of haute couture ’80s look, which is in again,” says Heightchew. Nissinen, quite the fashion plate himself, also notes the multicultural influence in Tani Miller’s choice of colors, prints, and silhouettes, so prevalent on today’s runways.

And the contest winner – announced here for the first time – is Pitsch. Heightchew explains: “Her final garment was really well thought out, well finished, and a really great translation of her original drawing.” Nissinen thought its simplicity and elegance captured the spirit of the best ballet costumes – beautiful without taking attention away from the wearer.

The “Design in Motion” ensembles will be on display at the Boston Opera House February 9 – 19 during the spring production of Boston Ballet’s Simply Sublime. That’s also a fitting title for the students’ showstopping creations.