-By Ankita Dutta.
Over the previous two weekends, Björk performed on the Coachella main stage, surprising audiences with a stripped-down orchestra performance accompanied by conductor Bjarni Frimann and the Hollywood String Ensemble. A unique drone light show was also seen in the night sky above her.
Bjork has been busy touring with her Björk Orkestral and Cornucopia bands for the past few years. According to the musician, she wanted to bring Coachella the “unplugged” feel of her later tour. She collaborated with James Merry, her concert’s creative director, to create a unique light show that played with the concepts of sound and movement.
The performances were made even more dramatic by Björk’s futuristic costume choices. She selected a molecular-like design from Noir Kei Ninomiya’s autumn 2023 collection for the first week. She also mentioned that the futuristic dots in the Noir dress were a good match for the drones, which is why she chose it.
She wore an ethereal white outfit from the spring 2023 collection of Noir Kei Ninomiya, with a transparent construction, silver studs, and white feathery strands for week two. According to Bjork’s stylist Edda Gudmundsdottir, the outfits were the ideal complement to her dynamic stage presence.
Björk changed into a high-tech Clara Daguin outfit with 1,430 hand-embroidered LED lights that responded to sound for the second half of the performance in week two (it was controlled by a microcontroller with a built-in microphone). She also donned supporting elements like a bodysuit by Solangel, a silver skirt by Weisheng Paris, and handmade latex by Venus. Dramatic headpieces created by Merry, that additionally referenced the drones, completed each of these ensembles. The Japanese business Secca 3D-printed the alien-like masks out of various types of resin. The masks from the first week were inspired by sonic booms, biological spirals, and sound waves, according to Merry.
Frimann, Björk’s conductor, shared the stage with her while sporting eye-catching ensembles by Valentino and Rick Owens. Björk finished the evening off in a hand-embroidered green Valentino outfit from the brand’s spring 2023 couture collection after this weekend’s performance. Overall, the stylist claims that witnessing Björk’s singular vision come to life was her favourite aspect of Coachella weekend.
Courtesy: Santiago Felipe (Vogue Magazine)
