Check Out This Surreal 360° VR Experience from Martha Graham and Barneys

March 5, 2018

Department store Barneys New York has teamed up with Samsung and the Martha Graham Dance Company for what’s possibly the most intriguing dance-meets-fashion collaboration to date. Today through April 8, you can visit select Barneys stores or their website to experience Mantle, a surreal 11-minute virtual reality experience featuring current and former Graham company members in eerie choreography by Cynthia Stanley.

The couture tie-in? The dancers’ costumes are designs from Prabal Gurung, The Row, Rick Owens, Loewe and Craig Green. Together, the garments are surprisingly Graham-esque with their stark, architectural details.


Mantle blends the dramatic and the obscure. Photo Courtesy Barneys New York.

Mantle
stars MGDC’s Charlotte Landreau, Lloyd Knight, Ben Schultz and Xin Ying, but it’s not a celebration of youth flaunting high fashion. They’re flanked by an ensemble of eight former company members, whose ages range into the 70s. The result is an enthralling blend of soundscape, style and dramatic, intricate movement. The best part? You can be transported there too. Here’s how:

— For the complete Samsung Gear VR experience, head to these Barneys New York flagship locations: Madison Avenue (New York City), Downtown (New York City) and Beverly Hills.

— You can also view a 360° version of Mantle in its entirety via barneys.com. Click and drag to explore the choreography and environment from different angles. No VR headset needed.

— Hitting the mall anyway? All other Barneys locations across the U.S. will be showing a non-immersive, standard video version of Mantle.

Check out the teaser below to get a taste: