Toronto fashion designer Rosemarie Umetsu is dressing some of the world’s foremost classical musicians.
Among them is superstar pianist Lang Lang.
The Umetsu “best-dressed” list includes the NAC’s Pinchas Zukerman, the TSO’s Peter Oundjian and numerous young Canadian divas from Isabel Bayrakdarian to Measha Brueggergosman.
Umetsu studied classical music for years and understands the type of clothing performers need: dramatic but flexible allowing them to breathe and move with ease. When preparing to design for an artist, Umetsu says she plays their music, immersing herself in their sound and style and often sees them perform to get a sense of their stage presence.
Lang Lang will be debuting the first of a number of suits and shirts he commissioned from Rosemarie Umetsu as he performs at the National Arts Centre’s fundraising Gala in Ottawa on September 22nd.