New York City’s Sportmax Boutique Becomes a Performance Space Caroline Grosso December 12, 2009

Dancers at the Sportmax store. Photograph by Fran Roberts.

New York City’s Sportmax boutique was transformed into an interactive performance space last week much to the delight of the fashionable crowd that gathered there despite the howling wind and falling temperatures. The evening was conceptualized by the Italian brand in collaboration with installation artist Sebastian Agneessens in hopes of exposing partygoers to alternative forms of art and expression.

On this occasion the crowd was treated to a contemporary dance choreographed by Andrea Miller, whose company Gallim Dance has been on enthusiasts’ radar since a breakout performance at Joyce Soho Presents in 2007. The performance began with the dancers slowly emerging from the store’s dressing rooms—yes, you read that correctly, the dressing rooms—evoking the image of flowers budding from their seeds. Dancers wore different Sportmax pieces, including body-con shrunken hoodies, tights, and gloves barely reaching the wrist, all of which allowed for a full range of movement - something the performers certainly needed as they leaped through the crowd, pushed against the walls, and danced on the boutique’s glass staircase.

The Sportmax store on West Broadway is the brand’s only freestanding store in the world, and it was important to Miller that she create a dance that would embrace all physical aspects of the boutique. “We thought the dance should show that kind of dynamic quality the space had,” she explained. “We wanted to be dealing with the steel, dealing with the cement, dealing with the glass on the stairs.” All of these elements were juxtaposed by a sneak peek of the Sportmax Pre-Fall 2010 collection on the store’s lower level, which often combined soft materials and different textures in one look. Dresses with supple leather trim, knit jackets featuring panels of pony skin, and a heather grey vest with piping are sure to be some of the season’s favorites.

Although Miller has only attended one runway show, she listed fashion as one of her major inspirations when creating a performance piece. “There’s a desire to push boundaries in fashion” she said, “that is part of a lot of people’s interests, and that is part of my interests. When you work with somebody who has that in their value system, then anything is possible.”