Bless my Jimmy Choos! Covent Garden chairman puts luxury brands on stage
NewsFrom an exclusive Bloomberg interview:
(Bloomberg) — When ballet dancers wore Burberry-designed costumes at a performance earlier this year, it was a clue to Lloyd Dorfman’s plan to save the Royal Opera House from financial ruin: get luxury brands to pay for an association with the Covent Garden palace.
Next on his list is putting costume designers on TikTok, or the Nutcracker on to Netflix. “We need to be more commercial about what we do,” says Dorfman, the businessman and entrepreneur who took over as chair in July last year.
Dorfman, who made his fortune after founding the money exchange business Travelex, wants to go further. He envisions a future where the facade of the 19th century building itself could help fill the coffers. “Harrods has got scaffolding on the front of their building, and every month they have a different brand,” he says, during an interview. The Royal Ballet or Opera could also be sponsored by brands such as Tiffany & Co or Rolex, should they be interested.
New revenue streams are critical for the survival of the Royal Opera House, which has been left with a £15 million ($18 million) annual deficit after funding cuts and rising costs.
Read on here.
Excellent idea. By the way, BP did not make “donations” to the Garden they were involved in sponsorships.
And the LSO, and particularly their young conductor’s programme, was funded for years by Shell. Mind you, who also remembers the John Player series and the Du Maurier sponsored recordings…?
Didn’t Simon Rattle win the John Players International Conducting Competition?
Nothing much new here. Jonathan MIller’s ROH 1995 Cosi had costumes designed and made by Armani.
I think they were designed by rather than sponsored by. If memory serves, the budget had run out and Miller had the thought to ask Armani for a favour… In later revivals, the Armani was replaced by Paul Smith, Donna Karan and Cerruti. Christian Lacroix is another fashionista who has also frequently designed opera costumes.