Due to release in March, Disney's new Alice in Wonderland feature seems to be a hot spot for collaborations recently. We've seen Stella McCartney, O.P.I and Paul & Joe get in on the act, however we reported last week that St Martins graduate William Tempest had chosen a different Disney fairytale to work with - the new animated film, The Princess and the Frog.
Starring Anika Noni Rose - who rose to fame through the musical Dreamgirls - Tempest designed a neatly folded turquoise number for the main character, Princess Tiana. Whilst Rose looks the ultimate princess in the sculpted dress, Vogue asked Tempest which Disney character he would love to play - "It would be fun to be the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland for the day, and also Mowgli from The Jungle Book."
Ever since the dreaded 'R' word surrounded our economy, hard times called for fashion to either go back to basics with classic buys to be passed onto eventual grandchildren, or to fight our sad state of affairs by springing back and showing us exactly why we fell in love with fashion in the first place - the fantasy. Disney, then, obviously make the perfect choice for a fantastical collaboration - we've seen Stella McCartney do it - and now ladies and gentleman, William Tempest. The London College of Fashion graduate has designed an enchanting dress for Anika Noni Rose, who stars in Disney's latest animation comedy The Princess and the Frog.
"I was a huge Disney fan when I was younger and absolutely love the films - my favourites have to be The Jungle Book and Snow White, so it is really exciting and a great honour to be collaborating with Disney," says Tempest, adding "The dress I have designed to launch the collaboration is inspired by Disney's new princess Tiana, the dress is very sculptural and constructed from fabric that has been folded like origami." The magical creation marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between Tempest and Disney, and will be unveiled at the premiere of the film this Sunday.
