Ganna Walska in Manon 01 

Erté created this costume design, "Ganna Walska in Manon 01", for a production that never was. Erté, a Russian-born French artist, made his name designing for the stage and for magazines like *Harper's Bazaar*. This design speaks to the way gender and class were performed in the early 20th century. Walska, a Polish opera singer, embodies an ideal of feminine extravagance and aristocratic privilege. The elaborate costume, with its oversized hat and fleur-de-lis pattern, references historical fashion while pushing it to the point of fantasy. Consider how Walska's identity as a performer is wrapped up in these visual cues of wealth and status. Erté's work often played with theatricality and illusion. Costume design is never just clothing, it is an identity. He captures the emotional appeal of artifice and its power to transport us. He seems to ask us to imagine a world where beauty and extravagance reign. We are left to consider how such displays of grandeur reflect our values and desires as a society.