First Hand – Athene Wright
Carlos Soto designed this costume for the Santa Fe Opera Company’s 2022 production of Tristan und Isolde. This suit was draped by Kjersten Lester- Moratzka and stitched by Nate Keene.
My team made two of this coat, one each for the two different performers that would be playing the role. The first coat was completed with the guidance of my draper, the second was completed after her departure from the opera. My job was to assist in the development of the first coat and guide the team through the process of creating the second, including final fittings and adjustments. Towards the end of the process, I was also responsible for training wardrobe technicians in the care of the coat using instructions provided by the draper.
Soto’s design concept for Tristan und Isolde was highly conceptual, blending geometric bodies with intricate textures. In addition to the rendering, my team was given images of mushroom gills and the ruffled edges of book pages to describe his desired texture. The design also featured highly exaggerated shoulders and a padded under tunic with thigh high gaiters.
Early in the process, I was placed in charge of creating prototype texture panels to hone in on the exact look the designer was hoping to achieve. I produced eight unique samples using different cutting, layering, and finishing techniques. Some of these used bias compression to create a ruffled look, others used fraying on the straight grain, and still others used alternating layers of both. I worked with my draper throughout the process to ensure all the options presented to the designer were possible with the amount of labor, time, and materials available to us. Based on feedback from the designer at each iteration, I was able to hone in on the right technique that would meet the designer’s aesthetic vision and remain stable enough to last a rigorous, repertory run.
The second element of research was the shoulder structure. The structure would need to be as light and breathable as possible while still supporting the weight of the finished coat. Following guidelines given to me by my draper, I produced a trial version of the structure consisting of two layers of gazar with stitched channels supported by nylon tube rods and heavy duty plastic boning. This was eventually adopted as the final design for the shoulder structure.
The production process for this garment was immensely time consuming and involved cutting over eighty yards of silk organza into two inch strips. Therefore, we planned the labor flow to begin more than a month in advance. In later stages, the tremendous weight of the garment necessitated two people to manipulate it under the sewing machine. After fitting the garment, the singer with narrower shoulders had concerns about managing the weight and requested a rehearsal dedicated to addressing this issue. During the rehearsal, the weight of the coat over the performer’s shoulders caused it to slide back and press into his windpipe. I was called in and resolved the issue by altering the shoulder structure to lower the garment’s center of mass.