Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker still has the power to change lives: what this fashion designer learned from Hong Kong Ballet’s radical production
‘In fashion, people always think that Paris or New York are best, but one thing I always think we forget is our own culture,’ says fashion designer Mountain Yam
Hong Kong Ballet’s most recent production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, in 2021, provided a new spin on the famous ballet, with its fantastical story that takes place in a child’s imagination, infusing it with local cultural elements, from lion dancers to jockeys to mahjong. Fashion designer Mountain Yam, founder of the label 112 mountainyam, explains how it changed his life.
I wasn’t a big fan of ballet but I’ve become one. Last year, we had a collaboration with Hong Kong Ballet – we designed outfits for two of its dancers – after the Hong Kong Trade Development Council lined us up to work together. Because of that, Hong Kong Ballet invited me to attend a couple of their shows. Our collaboration gave me the chance to get to understand ballet. The more I understood, the more I wanted to know about it.
When I visited the rehearsal venue, I saw how hard the practice was. The requirements of the garments were totally different from what I had expected. We’re used to designing eveningwear or daywear; eveningwear needs to be body-conscious and fitted while daywear needs to be loose fitting. But a ballet dancer’s body structure is different from other peoples; they have a very low body-fat percentage, so when we design garments, we need to make them even more tight, so when they move, the garment doesn’t go the wrong way.
The Nutcracker was the second of their productions that I went to. It’s not a traditional production; they added Hong Kong cultural elements into the story. Their way of thinking inspired me to consider integrating cultural elements into our designs. For our next collection, we could maybe look into the culture we have here. In fashion, people always think that Paris or New York are best, but one thing I always think we forget is our own culture and how it can help us open markets overseas.
Having designed clothes for more than 10 years, we have our own methodology for how we start collections; we always try to stick to our own way. This show inspired us to think outside the box. Maybe it’s time for us to change. We don’t have to follow the same path; we can explore new ideas, like Hong Kong Ballet does.
