Monarchy x Dita Von Teese on Nowness.com

NOWNESS: Monarchy x Dita Von Teese

Burlesque queen Dita Von Teese dons her signature vintage corsets and gowns to incarnate a woman lost in sensual fancy in this video for electronic outfit Monarchy’s new single, “Disintegration,” directed by Roy Raz. “She’s a 1950s style housewife stuck in a toxic, dry relationship. She’s fantasizing, releasing herself in a dream world of lovers,” says the band’s Andrew Armstong. The fortuitous pairing began on Twitter, and after spending an extravagant Christmas in Paris together—joined by local characters like Catherine Baba and Diane Pernet—a friendship was forged. Soon Armstrong and partner-in-music Ra Black were penning songs for the master of striptease. The result is a synth-soaked track that brings model and author Teese’s inimitable suggestive touch to Monarchy’s soulful dance. “We considered doing an x-rated version of it,” says Armstrong. “Maybe we will some day.” Switching between stark domestic scenes to muscular choreography performed by Israel’s young Batsheva Dance Company, Tel Aviv-based Raz draws us into an imagined erotic world that is part retro, part surreal. “There should be something reserved, unreachable, unobtainable about an ideal muse—close enough to inspire but just out of reach to keep the mystery,” says Armstrong. “We have that in Dita.” Here Von Teese makes some confessions, including ex-husband Marilyn Manson’s thoughts on her foray into music.

Interview with Dita on NOWNESS