Everything You Need to Know About ABBA’s Voyage Costumes

For starters, no cat dresses are involved. Åkerlund retained the idea of an animal, but chose the phoenix as being representative of the band’s reemergence. “I chose Manish [Arora] because he does intensive beading, and I really wanted the opening costumes to be really elaborate…[and] super-embellished. There are thousands and thousands of Swarovski crystals mixed in with embroidery to accomplish that.”

Erevos Aether, Greek designers working out of London, are responsible for the band’s light-up “ABBAtron” costumes. “I thought that they understood the concept of the future, and they work a lot in plexi and neoprene, [which] are really good materials because you can dance [in them]. They allowed for another extra element besides just lighting up the costume.” Michael Schmidt, who once made a dress for Debbie Harry out of razor blades, and who has a way with metal mesh, was Åkerlund’s pick, using the material to make costumes “that felt disco, yet modern.” For the finale, Åkerlund says she wanted to make the band members “bigger than life, sort of like Greek gods.” Recalling that Dolce & Gabbana had worked on that theme before, she turned to them for elaborately embellished pieces. “They have the craftsmanship and they have the knowledge of what it is that I’m after.”

There are about 20 costume changes in Voyage, yet not one garment was fitted on Benny, Agnetha, Anna-Frid, or Björn. Åkerlund worked with body doubles. Sketches were approved by ABBA, and then the actual garments were scanned. ABBA performed the concert in green suits, and so it is their movement, and voices, the audience will enjoy. Because she wanted everything “to look as real as possible,” each finished garment was digitized to capture every physical detail. The band’s dancing shoes, for the record, are from platform specialist Terry de Havilland.

ABBA’s Voyage costumes are, to some extent, “an homage to the ’70s,” yet in many ways they are unconnected to chronology because ABBA as a cultural phenomenon is bigger than its own era. “I don’t think I know one person that doesn’t know an ABBA song or won’t dance when the music comes on,” Åkerlund says, adding that the band “represents everything in my childhood.” Music can create a shared, borderless, and intangible experience. Can digital fashion follow?