Mirai Nagasu

I designed this beige colored figure skating dress shown for Mirai Nagasu’s 2015 long program.

The music is a medley of contemporary tunes from Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film, “The Great Gatsby’, and Mirai loved the music and the program, choreographed by Catarina Lindgren. She wanted to use the dress that Daisy wore in the party scene as an inspiration for the design. My first thought was that the beige might wash her out, but the color might also add that element of ‘elegance’ to the dress that we were both striving for.

The 1920’s era is one of my favorites, so I had quite a bit of research material and ideas from which to choose. To integrate the ‘art deco’ designs with the contemporary edge of Luhrmann’s soundtrack, I detailed the dress with chevrons, tight lines and geometric patterns. The entire dress needed to portray this theme, and so instead of a flowy skirt, we opted for a shredded edge to continue the jazzy, contemporary look.

As an afterthought, and as a surprise for Mirai, I decided to incorporate some pearls to the dress, despite their low visibility. I felt that it would help to convey that ‘Gatsby’ feeling for her. As I said in an article about this dress, it was only important for her to know they were there, even if no one else knew it or even noticed them.
“It is lovely on her, and my hope is that it will do exactly what it is supposed to do – enhance the program and add to the enjoyment for Mirai, and for those who are watching her.” That was one of my closing remarks on the dress, and it says just what I felt. Mirai later commented–“I’m so grateful to Pat for making each dress a piece of art that helps me skate the programs I want.”
This stunning dress was voted one of the best of the season.