Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Enchanting Characters by Klaus Haapaniemi


The Owl and Jay


The owl hat was made with starched laces to given it victorian feel.








The Guinea fowl 


The Woodpecker


The Squirrel


The Fox and the Vixen



Finnish designer Klaus Haapaniemi made his opera set design debut by creating a colorful world of animals for The Cunning Little Vixen originally written by Leoš Janáček. The story of a female fox captured by a human and obliged to live among humans until it manages to escape to her freedom. It's a sad yet a beautiful story depicting a relationship between animals and humans that comes alive by Haapaniemi’s rich designs in form of detailed set and costumes.

The costumes were made using natural materials like wool and silk "for it to stay light and be flexible and dynamic for moving on the stage but also be visually impactful and detailed with strong graphic silhouettes." 

"My aim was to give each costume a recognisable character and it was strongly based on the hand sewn geometric patterns and the focal point of each outfit are the hats that give each costume their distinctive look. The hats are one of the most important parts of the whole visual concept of the Cunning Little Vixen. The hat like head pieces that are functional in the fast choreography are successful only because the incredible skill of their makers." -  The artist shares his idea behind the costumes on his website

You can learn more about each of the characters and their costumes on this page.  

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