Theatrical performances rivaled the theatrical collections at this past fashion month. Whether it was Sia’s surprise set at Christian Siriano, or The Strokes rocking out at J.Crew, artists took the opportunity to combine style and performance this season. But few did it as well as FKA Twigs. The singer took to the stage at both Vogue World: London and Valentino’s spring 2024 presentation, and even creative-directed the latter’s whole ethereal performance. “It’s been really busy,” Twigs tells Vogue of her eventful past few weeks. “It was really incredible to use my brain in a different way. I feel myself breaking out of just being a musical artist, and see myself working in different spaces to present my ideas in different ways.”
Of course, serving as a creative director is nothing new for Twigs. Recently, she’s spearheaded live performances, short films, and more for brands such as Calvin Klein, Google Glass, the International Woolmark Prize, and WeTransfer. Heading into fashion month, then, the artist was excited to bring her vision to the collections. “It’s always really nice to see what’s happening in culture, because fashion has such a correlation with where we’re at as a society,” says Twigs. “Whether [the collections are] really maximalist and opulent, or really stripped back and serious, there’s a collective consciousness—even if designers are talking to each other.”
Twigs’s first performance of the month was at Vogue World: London in September, a special show held inside the Theater Royal Drury Lane. She performed a rendition of “It’s a Fine Day” by Opus III, and was joined by dancers from the revered Rambert Dance Company. “I spent two weeks with the Ballet Rembert in a huge studio, just sweating, singing, and laughing,” says Twigs. “I really wanted to create something that felt like a celebration—to give something that felt very joyous, and like a community.”
Her black cut-out bodysuit by LaQuan Smith was the perfect look for the performance. “I loved how simple and striking it was,” she says. “I felt a synergy with the dancers—we were all wearing black and strong shapes. For me, I’ve definitely grown tired of everyone doing the most. It was challenging myself to strip it all back, and have the focus be on me and the dancer’s physicality.”
In Paris, meanwhile, Twigs pulled off her second creative collaboration with Valentino earlier this week. The artist directed a special musical performance—with all-female dancers from Rambert Dance Company—for designer Pierpaolo Piccioli’s spring 2024 collection. “We’ve been talking about doing something together for a while now—wanting to push art, fashion, and dance further,” she says. To do so, the pair riffed off of Piccioli’s new designs, which had a grounded sensibility. Twigs wanted to capture this emotion through the performance’s choreography and set—as well as the sounds made by the dancers’ movement. “Pierpaolo’s collection was about this woman who was very natural and raw, but extremely powerful,” says Twigs. “All I could see were these incredible dancers in my head, creating music with stones, sand, and the earth.”
Running out into the center of the crowd barefoot, Twigs and the dancerts kicked off the show by moving through a multi-leveled set filled with loud natural materials. “I wanted to create a calamity of rocks, earth, gravel, and sand,” says Twigs. “It was so exciting to enter a whole new world of sonic exploration, after many [years] of making music.”
Choreographing the movement between herself and the dancers was another highlight for the artist. “I’ve always been really obsessed with the Ballet Rambert,” says Twigs. “When I grew up, I wanted to be a dancer. I was classically trained, but I never would’ve thought that somebody like me—that looks the way that I do, and has my economic background—would ever get into Rambert. Now as an adult, I’m dancing with Rambert dancers who look like me. It felt like such a family.”
Given the performance was about the relationship between sound and movement, Twigs wanted her custom performance look for the show—a beige, second-skin two-piece—to accentuate rather than steal the scene. “I was really like, ‘I don’t want to wear anything,’” says Twigs. “I didn’t want any embellishment or anything fancy—I wanted the craft to speak for itself.” That’s reflective of how she’s feeling about fashion in general these days: less-is-more. “I feel like I’m going through a transformation,” she says. “I’m in a real moment of less. At the moment, I’m not so into prints or lots of color. I love things that are cut really well, that will last me 20 years, and that I can give to my kids. I actually just got rid of a load of my clothes, and sent a lot to my archive.”
Fans that tuned into the Valentino performance were unknowingly treated to a sneak peek of the singer’s new music. At the end of the moving set, Twigs performed an unreleased track from her forthcoming album. “It was really incredible to expose myself in that way, mid-process,” Twigs says. “I’m actively working on in the studio at the moment; A lot of the movements in the [Valentino] piece, and the things I was trying to portray, will be the physical language that I bring onto the album.” She says you can anticipate its release sometime next year—and to expect the unexpected. “I’ve grown a lot as an artist and I see things very differently now,” she says, “so I’m ready to push myself.”
