Diesel:U:Music – Rock & Rave Circus » Behind the scenes: the making of the Rock ‘n Rave Circus costumes

2009
10.23

Behind the scenes: the making of the Rock ‘n Rave Circus costumes

Category: Amsterdam, Brussel, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Hengelo, Leiden, Rotterdam, Utrecht / Tag: Bas Kosters, Behind the scenes / Add Comment

We wanted to know a bit more about the design process of the costumes Bas Kosters made for the Rock ‘n Rave Circus, so we went to visit him in his studio in the World Fashion Center in Amsterdam West. It has been quite a big job for him, because he had to make costumes for every member of the circus. That’s 18, total. And most of it had to be hand-crafted. “The morning of the big opening I was still down on my knees painting prison stripes on the outfits for Boemklatsch.”

“I was inspired by old circuses and books about the history of clowns. I love the authentic and nostalgic part of the circus. And I am very interested in the visual aspects: the lighting, the décor, the costumes and the way people transform when they step into the ring. I like that better than the actual performance or actions that take place in a circus.”

“Of course I have my own design principles. I love working with studs and sequins, and like it when the outfit looks unfinished and frayed. I also work with certain hand painting techniques. For the Rock ‘n Rave costumes I used a technique where you sort of pour the paint on the fabric, so you get these big nasty staints. They make the clothes look dirty, which was necessary, because they had to be not just circus, but also rock and rave. A part of the outfits are Diesel clothes that I made a re-edit of. And every circus member is wearing Diesel shoes.”

We asked Bas to show us some of his original sketches, to give us a better idea of how the outfits came to be:

JOOST VAN BELLEN

"For Joost van Bellen I had to make three outfits. The first one was to establish his role as master of ceremonies, the circus proprietor, in which he welcomes the crowd. I made a re-edit of a Diesel coat by adding little leather elephants on it and making it more glamrock. On top of that he is wearing a double high hat. For his DJ outfit I had to consider the fact that he must be able to move freely and that only the top part of the outfit is shown on stage. So the focus had to be on his upper body. This is again a re-edit of a Diesel jacket, on which I made a shoulderpiece from sequined fabric that looks like a waterfall when it reflects the light. It is punk meets glamrock and very cool! And his last outfit was obvious: the resurrection! So I made an oversized see through dress, with underneath it a pair of underpants that says "NEXT" written in poo. It is very trashy rock & roll."

WANNEBE A STAR

"Wannabe A Star is the first star to enter the circus stage. And since there are not a lot of ladies in this circus, we wanted to make her a sexy showgirl. I started thinking about a Moulin Rouge style, but in the end I wanted her to look more like rave culture, with bright colors, a red suit with studs en blue trimmings. I also made her a head cap with big feathers. With her it was the same thing as with Joost: she had to be able to DJ, so the outfit had to be practical. I like it when clothes have to have a function next to being beatiful. Making a puzzle out of it really is exciting."

MONSIEUR PLASTIQUE

"Paul (Monsieur Plastique) crosses all boundaries. The trick is that during the night, he will be wearing less and less. First we thought: let's throw all his outfits over eachother, but that turned out to be too impractical. So I made four outfits, from semi-dressed to more or less naked. The first outfit was a short cape by Diesel with fluor and a tail made from net fabric."

AUX RAUS

"The image of the Aux Raus show is hypnotic, hardcore and nasty. I got my inspiration from the cover art of their album: black and white, cut and frayed. It would be fun if their outfits get dirtier every show, and at the end of the tour they will be completely trashed, with beer stains and footsteps all over it."

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