One of the first images I bookmarked in the development stage of PANTALON was an image of German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch, wearing a fitted singlet and long black trousers dancing Jazz for an event at the Wuppertal Opera House in 1973. It’s an everlasting powerful image of a woman enamoured to movement of the body through dance and music.

More than the image though, and what struck a chord with me as a founder and designer was Pina’s sensibility for casting interesting characters for her performances. It wasn’t all just about technique but rather the personality and attitude of the dancer; ‘I always like when people make me curious’, Pina states in her biography.

Similarly, when casting for the PANTALON Woman in Motion project it wasn’t about finding a dancer with superb technique, or a sample sized model for the size 8 clothing. It was much simpler actually – it was about finding someone who enjoyed dancing and understood fluid movement.

In Anastacia, we found the perfect model. We wanted someone who displayed that same fullness of character that Pina was driven by. We shot the campaign for 40 minutes. It felt spontaneous and quick, yet natural. It was a display of lightness and what felt like the final finishing touch to all the time poured into development and production of the garments.

There’s a lightness that comes with being free to express one’s own individuality, and that only comes from the constant motion forward.

Lara Burnell, April 2025