Clothes With Real Kick

There’s nothing like a major star portraying a French courtesan in lavish lingerie to get the fashion industry in a fever.

For months, word that Nicole Kidman would sing, dance and seduce in director Baz Luhrmann’s opulently costumed musical “Moulin Rouge” has wowed major fashion-industry players well in advance of the movie’s U.S. premiere on May 18 in New York and Los Angeles.

While it may seem odd that a movie with late 19th century costumes would inspire so many fashionistas, it is the cancan dancers’ full skirts, petticoats, corsets and boots that form the film’s big fashion statement and much of its visual intrigue, particularly in this era of plain and simple clothes.

And of course, “Moulin Rouge” is no ordinary musical with its use of contemporary songs, and Kidman is no ordinary ‘ho. As Satine, the top courtesan of the famed Parisian nightclub who ends up in a tragic love affair with young poet-musician Christian (Ewan McGregor), her extravagant, bare costumes capture the glamour of sirens past and present. Though the film is set in 1899, it’s been crafted with subtle modern references to resonate with contemporary audiences.

Early in its production, the film’s lush and romantic look caught the seasoned eye of Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, who featured Kidman as Satine on the cover in December, and in May devoted a spread to the actress in “Moulin Rouge”-inspired couture dresses that the editor commissioned from major designers such as Karl Lagerfeld. After the Vogue cover, emerging trends for corseted and more decorated clothes materialized in fall collections shown in February and March. Bloomingdale’s also was inspired to open “Moulin Rouge” boutiques in New York and Century City. Their Belle Epoque-flavored dresses, bustiers, T-shirts and fishnet hose have sold well in their first two weeks. Christian Dior has even put out “Moulin Rouge”-themed makeup.

“There is a certain synergy between entertainment and fashion that seems to get stronger all of the time,” said Kalman Ruttenstein, senior vice president for fashion direction at Bloomingdale’s. It’s especially evident in the music video starring Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Pink and Mya singing “Lady Marmalade” from the “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack. Throughout the video, they flash “Moulin Rouge,” said Ruttenstein. “The video they play on MTV is basically a commercial.”

However, “Moulin Rouge” is a risky choice for the fashion industry to promote. Even before its worldwide debut at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, earlier screenings of the still-unfinished movie inspired uneven reactions. No matter how ambitious, musicals have a terrible track record--with only a handful of hits in the last 40 years. Even an exquisitely wardrobed Madonna couldn’t prop up “Evita,” and the lavish rock ‘n’ roll costumes of “Velvet Goldmine” didn’t bring in major audiences, though both movies were darlings of stores and the fashion press. Unlike the “Annie Hall” era, when movies helped sell fashion, now fashion helps market movies--if only on the strength of their costumes alone.

“Moulin Rouge” is undoubtedly a spectacle that builds on Luhrmann’s past efforts “Strictly Ballroom,” and “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” which were also costumed by his wife and longtime collaborator, Catherine Martin. For “Moulin Rouge,” Martin was both production designer and co-costume designer with her former college classmate, Angus Strathie. Together, they created a total of 450 costumes for a cast that included, among others, dwarfs, 100 men in top hats and tails, women of all sizes and circus performers. Admitted fashion junkies, Martin, who is known as CM to friends, and Strathie rigorously researched the era to capture the allure of the “Moulin Rouge” heyday.

“There was a whole world of entertainment under women’s dresses in the 19th century,” said Martin while she was in Los Angeles Tuesday. She explained that the high kicks of the cancan dance earned its scandalous reputation because panties of that time featured a split crotch--mostly for practical reasons. “Can you imagine with all of those voluminous underskirts how hard it would be to get those knickers down?” she said.

Martin and Strathie found a way to put the costumes into a modern context. “We had to present a spectacular array of very colorful petticoats and contrasting undies,” Martin said. “So it was a beautiful, revelatory moment when they lifted up their skirts.” Some of the immense petticoats weighed 30 pounds, which were supported by suspender-like braces.

Modern bodies required other concessions. “We had to make special, short corsets for the cancan dancers, because in long corsets, they lost control of their lower stomach muscles and couldn’t lift their legs up to do the dances,” Martin said. “It is reported that [a century ago] some girls actually killed themselves in pursuit of the high kick.”

The difficult, high-energy dancing caused damage to body and soles, including an on-set accident that required Kidman to get knee surgery. “We had an on-set cobbler to fix the shoes. The poor dancers’ shoes were disintegrating,” Martin said.

To keep Kidman in her 19th century costumes, “we had to make a leaning board for Nicole because it’s uncomfortable to sit in a corset,” Martin said. “She suffered like you wouldn’t believe. It was just agony from morning to night.” Kidman even cracked a rib from the combined pressure of being lifted while being tightly laced. Martin and the star considered remaking her wardrobe but managed to shoot corset-less until she healed.

Other actors endured the tortures of their special-effects wardrobes, including John Leguizamo, who played the unnaturally diminutive artist Toulouse-Lautrec. “He had all sorts of different leg contraptions to make him short . . . and they were all extremely uncomfortable,” she said. To play Harold Zidler, the “Moulin Rouge’s” corpulent impresario, Jim Broadbent wore a fat suit that was difficult to ventilate. “We got an air conditioner and put a couple of holes in the suit,” said Martin. “Then we stuck a hose into the suit and blew in air.”

The unkind and sometimes comedic aspects of making the movie were recorded for a coffee table book that will be released along with the movie. The film’s lush look also was irresistible to Vogue’s Wintour, who saw modern messages in the period pieces.

“There is so much fashion out there that is so simple, minimalistic and very tasteful,” said Wintour. “To have something more romantic, bohemian and decorated made a lot of sense for us. It’s a look that was picked up by many other designers and Bloomingdale’s, who had huge success with a [‘Moulin Rouge’] store.”

“It’s a fun, free and colorful way to dress,” Wintour said. “It’s sexy without being vulgar. And Nicole is the perfect model for all of this entire look.”

It may be no coincidence that the movie has already influenced fall’s trends for corseted looks, boots and full skirts because Wintour’s support of the movie sent a clear signal. Though the powerful editor gives credit to Luhrmann and Martin for their vision, she admitted that, “I certainly have talked to them [many designers] about the movie for some months. They were aware of my interest and that we put Nicole on our Christmas cover, and in dresses for the May issue. Then we saw a lot of it echoed on the runways.”

Her endorsement also inspired Bloomingdale’s Ruttenstein, who described Wintour as “a very strong catalyst who got all the designers excited about this.” He, in turn, created the “Moulin Rouge” boutiques, which he stocked in an unusual way.

“We invited 25 New York and 25 California designers to two screenings of a 15-minute clip of the movie,” he said. They were asked to make modern clothes, most $100 to $200, for a young, contemporary customer who might wear them to proms, summer weddings or parties. Los Angeles T-shirt maker Chris Lee of Skinny Minnie, who holds licensing rights for the movie, has already sold 1,200 of his $32 screen-printed “Moulin Rouge” tank shirts to Bloomingdale’s, and more are on order.

Elsewhere in the store, the Christian Dior “Moulin Rouge” makeup has boosted the line’s sales by 100% in two weeks, Ruttenstein said. “People want the Nicole Kidman look--the smoky eyes, the red lips and the pale skin.”

He is betting that the combination of the movie’s modern soundtrack, top stars and fun costumes will attract a young customer dressing for proms and summer weddings. His faith in the movie and its look is so strong, he’s keeping the “Moulin Rouge” boutiques and store windows in place for twice as long as originally intended.

Though he and other supporters of the movie realize “Moulin Rouge” is a box-office gamble, Ruttenstein is nevertheless buoyed by the early success of the cancan clothing trend.

“The clothes wouldn’t sell if they weren’t the right clothes,” he said. “You can’t give customers what they don’t want.”