A Look Into Madonna’s Celebration Wardrobe
Photo: Neil Symons
When a new Madonna tour starts, the spotlight also goes on the amazing costumes she wears on the stage and on the designers she collaborated with.
The Celebration Tour is of course no exception; we already knew the names of some the talents involved from what they shared over the past months and more were revealed on opening night.
The first one to spill the beans was Jean Paul Gaultier, who revealed that he was collaborating with Madonna again in a French interview published in March.
As the curtain for the show goes up, we see Madonna in a replica Jean Paul Gaultier kimono in black, a nod to the red one she wears in the original music video for Nothing Really Matters. The look is completed by a custom halo crown in sterling silver and faceted Swarovski styled by Eyob Yohannes and Rita Melssen for Malakai.
Melssen wrote on her Instagram:
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have collaborated and spent time with incredible artists every single day creating this show. You have all filled my spirit with such hope and joy through your creations
Thank you for sharing yourselves with me and the world. Madonna thank you for calling me and trusting me to tell the story of your life through all of these costumes that we created, no words can express my gratitude.
Eyob Yohannes commented:
Words can’t describe the amount of gratitude I have for being on this journey. Grateful to collaborating again with @madonna, to my team and to the ability to shine light and express ourselves. Thanks to all that worked so hard to make this happen! We did it!
In the same post he also shared the details for the entire Costume Department for the tour – quite helpful as a tour book with the complete credits for the show is currently missing.
Eyob Yohannes – Costume Designer
Rita Melssen – Creative & Design Associate
Samuel Ososki – Madonna Draper/Tailor & Design Consultant
Zoe Heller – M Assistant Costume Designer
Amanda Newman – M Assistant Costume Designer
James Nguyen – Assistant Costume Designer
Rachel Townsend – Assistant Costume Designer
Savannah Wetzel – Assistant Costume Designer
Anne Stebbins – Costume Department Coordinator
Crystal Belfon – Costume Co-Coordinator
Justin Teodoro – Illustrator
Tawnee Clifton- Fashion Assistant
Kristi Kruser – Fashion Assistant
Tori Leung – Fashion Assistant
Michelle Ridley – Fashion Assistant
Michael Zecker – M Shopper
Isabelle Martin – Shopper
Nicole Slaven – Shopper
Natalie Mettouch – Shopper
Aerin Valentine – Shopper
Lena Maginsky – Costume PA
Jannette Fisher – Costume PA
Stefan Romeo – Costume PA
Charlie Ko – Costume Intern
M Workroom:
Samuel Ososki – M Costume Draper & Tailor
Olga Kim – Tailor & Dressmaker
Mariana Ivanova – Tailor & Dressmaker
Jin Fa Han – Master Tailor
Olena Tokareva – Tailor
Lacey Dalimonte – Leather Specialist
Tuviya Badalova – Tailor
Alejandra Vargas – Tailor
Lauren Lau – Textile Artist
Dancer Team:
Anthony Garcia – Dancer Head Tailor
Lizet Rubinos – Tailor
Cha Cha Zutic – Tailor
Bobbi Morse – Tailor
Later in the show Madonna shines in a custom Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture piece exclusively designed by Monsieur Jean Paul himself, an iconic cone-bra dress playing a heartfelt homage to the years of his collaboration with the Queen of Pop, including the legendary Blond Ambition Tour corset. A “making of” Reel about the custom look was posted on Instagram today.
The Blond Ambition cone-bra is also one of the 17 archived costumes recreated for the show, although they are not meant for Madonna herself but for dancers impersonating some of her most iconic looks from her Four Decades in music.
The second designer who revealed to be involved with the show is Guram Gvasalia, creative director at Swiss luxury brand Vetements in a Instagram post published in July.
Thanks to WWD we learn that one of Gvasalia’s custom garments made for the Madonna is the lace bustier and shorts adorned with a layered chain belt she wears during Into The Groove, Burning Up, Papa Don’t Preach and Holiday. He posted a couple of videos on Instagram after the first show of the tour but only commented with a 🖤 and a 🙏🏻 emoji for Madonna.
A third designer is no other that Donatella Versace herself, who took to her Instagram right after the opening night and let everybody know that the maison created for Madonna the spectacular Atelier Versace custom catsuit she wears during Ray of Light. Versace also dresses Madonna’s daughter Estere in the ballroom section, but that’s way more easy to recognize. Donatella wrote:
My amazing friend @madonna – you are a ray of light in Versace on the 1st night of your Celebration Tour. Your talent and creativity inspires us all… and Estere is a SUPERSTAR ❤️
Another longtime collaborator is Ukranian milliner Ruslan Baginskiy, who provided the hats for Die Another Day and Don’t Tell Me. Baginskiy wrote:
Thank you Madonna! For believing in me from the start. For your incredible support. For almost eight years together. Our story that comes to this amazing night. Thank you for making me part of your Celebration.
This support is not just mine, it’s the support for my country. Our victory comes through cultural ones as well, though unity. Through No Fear. You were always an example of that and you really mean it.
From the iconic Max Factor campaigns I saw as a kid, you wearing hats — a forever inspiration. Fast forward to this incredible night.
Your presence in my life is the biggest honor. Still can’t believe it.
Forever Muse. ❤️
Check out ruslanbaginskiy.com for more details about his work for The Celebration Tour.
Last but not least, Italian luxury brand Rosamosario created the corset Madonna wears in the final segment of the show. They shared several images of the work behind the scenes on Instagram and commented:
Madonna celebrates Four Decades of Hits with career-spanning spectacle wearing Rosamosario, atelier-made in Milano, custom-made corsets. A continuous work for the past nine months with her brilliant team, American dream.
Thank you to all for making our brand at this stage “iconic”, as more than Madonna there is only God !
