"Mutant faith" in stylist Natacha voranger

Following Voranger and Arca’s first project together, shows became more intense. Perhaps the most ambitious being a 5-night theatrical performance at The Shed in New York titled “Mutant; Faith,” where Arca performed atop a mechanical bull, upturned car, and dancing pole—on one night accompanied by musical collaborator Björk. 

 

A recurring component of Arca’s performances is live costume changes, first attempted at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival in 2019 at Arca’s request.

 

“I liked [Arca] very much for proposing such bold ideas— the looks were so complicated, we had only one minute to change her, it was nearly impossible. But the challenge was striking and I thought ‘we’ll probably never make it, but let’s go!’ Once on stage, of course, my hands were shaking, I wasn’t used to being in front of all these people. If I remember well, I turned my back to the crowd and looked only at Alejandra’s body that I had to undress and then dress, very consciously and methodically.”

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Natacha and Arca at The Shed

 

Beyond the spectacle of public costume changes was Natacha’s attention to detail—at The Shed, mismatched heels were adorned with cling wrap that enclosed Arca’s entire thigh, with a sparkling copper tassel found in the styling room and a bouquet of white flowers tucked under the clear wrapping. Arca told Vogue she would ask Voranger to bring accessories to base the looks around. 

 

“I love to work with objects, something that is not clothing,” Voranger said. “Whatever was interesting as a material I would bring, and then we would find a way to bind it to her.”

 

Voranger also used her background in fashion design to sew a makeshift dress out of a Venezuelan flag that Arca requested be incorporated. 

 

“Because of her movement [pole dancing], she made it alive, so it was kind of amazing to see that. Also, we were next to the stage looking at the show, and also thinking ‘Oh my God, what is happening right now?’ It was so powerful,” Voranger said.

 

The Shed pushed Arca outside of her comfort zone, wearing two long white gowns, a sheer pleated dress by WESLAH and a textured cream gown by Vaquera, accessorised with a techno futuristic helmet by Ikeuchi. Voranger pushed for the gown, despite Arca’s initial resistance to wearing something so covered up. She also incorporated a white beaded bull fighting jacket custom-made for Arca and used in her video for “Reviere,” and recurring tall metal cyborg legs.

 

For Voranger, styling Arca felt intuitive, needing minimal direction to construct otherworldly imagery for both performance art and music videos. The words ‘MUTANT,’ ‘PREGNANT WOMAN’, and little else were sent by Arca to Natacha, who then interpreted them for her “@@@@@” video.

 

As a longtime fan of Arca’s music—Natacha’s favourite songs are Rakata and Prada—listening to Arca’s music was plenty inspiration. 

 

“Her music is sometimes very deconstructed, so that’s why I try to always have parts of the styling where it breaks, or things that don’t make a lot of sense, to have reflection of her music in her clothes. Her music is not perfectly polished,” Voranger said.

 

Recently, Voranger has helped style Mugler’s perfume campaign and Rosalía’s “Motomami” promo shoot for Spotify, both of which make up an impressive portfolio of artists with a strong sense of identity, rooted in an experimental realm of fashion—Voranger only works for artists or brands she admires, including Arca.

 

“For me, Arca’s always the same. She’s always Arca. There is no moment where she’s playing another person.”