British luxury fashion house Burberry is collaborating with director and choreographer Wayne McGregor to create the costumes for his latest work for The Royal Ballet, designed by Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee. This new ballet production by McGregor, Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, receives its world premiere on 9 June and will be performed at the Royal Opera House in London. As yet untitled, this new one-act work is set to music by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, with lighting design by Lucy Carter and set design by the late Cuban-born American artist Carmen Herrera, who passed away aged 106 in 2022. This will be McGregor’s 20th work for The Royal Ballet and follows his outstanding revival of ‘Woolf Works’ in March 2023, as well as the critically acclaimed ‘The Dante Project’ which premiered in 2021. Reflecting Burberry’s?spirit?of modern Britishness, The Royal Ballet champions the best of contemporary culture and creativity.?Marking Burberry’s first collaboration with The Royal Ballet, this is also the first time that Lee has designed costumes for McGregor.
For this extraordinary Royal Ballet project with the late, great minimalist artist Carmen Herrera we dreamt of collecting together a stellar team. Daniel Lee, an artist with unbridled imagination, is creating work of innovation, motion, and piercing beauty. And with his exceptional passion for all forms of dance, he felt like a natural ally. Together, with the Burberry team, we are working on something truly special – honouring Carmen whilst forging our own evolutionary path. – Wayne McGregor
It is such a pleasure, and of course an honour, to collaborate on this extraordinary project with so remarkable a team. It’s always been a dream to create costumes for dance which is such a passion of mine. – Daniel Lee