English Version | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

With the characteristic exuberance of both creatives, supported by a haute couture wardrobe, it's instinctive to assume that the combination of Roth and LaChapelle is something otherworldly, but in truth, it's merely a projection of what ours should be—even if only as a sensation: magical, theatrical, symbiotic between creatures, and, let's face it, always elegant.

This isn't Jordan Roth's first time in the pages of Vogue. In February 2022, he modeled for a fashion production in our Celebrate Yourself issue, a role he's already known for: director of ATG Entertainment (formerly Ambassador Theatre Group), an international organization that aims to control the various aspects of theater—stage, marketing, box office, and show production—it might seem like a high-profile position that defines Roth professionally, but it's only a tiny part of who he is—both professionally and personally. Ambitious and unpretentious in equal measure, the two sides—professional and personal—are, frankly, inseparable: Jordan is theater, and theater is Jordan, who is also a fervent activist, a loving father, a devoted partner… Perhaps he has a case of the woodworm, because he can't sit still, piling on project after project even in an already overwhelmed life (but one that seems to dominate as if there were time for everything, curiously).

His most recent project saw him debut a new performance at the Musée du Louvre in July, linking representation, art, and Haute Couture, a triptych that perfectly fits Jordan Roth: seeing it among the sculptures of the legendary museum is to perceive the analogy between the beauty of both silhouettes and the rich history they carry, while also seeing the artist in his natural habitat—the theater (albeit on a unique stage). In "Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty," on view for one night only and set against the backdrop of the museum's Cour Marly space and the Louvre Couture exhibition, Roth drew inspiration from the institution's vast collection and its historic classical and modern architecture to explore the nexus between fashion, art, and the body—a trinity mirrored in the exhibition's structure (three acts, presented three times)—and referencing the shape of the Louvre's iconic glass pyramid. Interweaving narrative themes that address encounters with the sublime, the nature of perception, and the agency of identity, Roth superimposed images and symbolism to articulate a unique artistic vocabulary and demonstrate Beauty's ability to liberate individual expression, in a dialogue between the malleability of fabrics, clothing, the human body, and the rigidity of space.

Aproveitámos o regresso de Roth a estas páginas para fazer o capítulo dois dessa entrevista de fevereiro de 2022 (uma que vale a pena revisitar), e mergulhar não só na tal atuação de uma noite apenas no Louvre, mas também na química por detrás deste editorial e na magia que é Jordan, nunca presa de críticas, sempre caçador de novas experiências.

On July 10th, you presented Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty, a spark also for the shoot that we see in these pages, all clad in haute couture. How did the idea for the performance at the Louvre came about?

Several years ago, I started to understand that I was feeling my way towards a form that I now call narrative fashion performance. That it was more than just getting dressed. And I was longing to put a frame around this work so that it could be understood more clearly as a deliberate, artistic expression. And I was longing for a more extended period of development in which I could bring more artistic rigor to this practice. With those thoughts swimming in my head, on my next birthday, a very poetic friend sent me a text that said among many other beautiful words, “May this be another year of radical acts of unrelenting beauty.” I knew immediately that that was my title, and I knew in that moment what the show was. I shared my early vision with Olivier Gabet, who runs the decorative arts collection at the Louvre, and he said, “Well you won’t believe it, but two and a half years from now I’m doing the first Louvre Couture exhibition, and this performance should be part of it.” I then began to develop the piece in earnest and brought Olivier a fully realized proposal. He loved it and brought me right in to see Laurence des Cars, the President of the Louvre. And I will never forget sitting in her office and as soon as I finished my explanation, she said, “Well we simply must do this!”

I know this show was a first for you in many senses - can you walk us through those firsts and how did you navigate them? Did that make you more nervous or more excited?

The performance was many firsts for me, but it was also an extension of everything I had been doing heretofore - in theatre, fashion, performance, philosophy, self-actualization. It was both a giant leap and a logical next step.

Theatre, Haute Couture, Jordan Roth and the Louvre (plus, the exhibit Louvre Couture) are an obvious fit - but there are also things to be adapted considering all of these nuances. What were the main struggles in presenting this sort of magical night in such an iconic place, usually reserved to more toned down/static exhibitions? And what do you think added the most to the performance - the outfits, the location, the expression?

It was a very complicated piece with so many technical requirements, made even more complicated by taking place in this architectural masterpiece that houses so many ancient masterpieces. And for only one night, so one chance to get it right. But through the work of the incredible team at the Louvre and all the many remarkable people on my team, all of those complications were also the root of the magic. To come together on this one special night in this awe-inspiring space in one of the most iconic institutions in the world and share a moment of humanity and beauty. 

How has been the audience feedback regarding the performance? What part did you feel most moved people?

I have been so deeply moved by the audiences’ profound experience in the room and also the many more who experienced it on social media in the days and weeks following. What I was most surprised by was how focused the audience was as I walked among them. I intended that part of the performance to be a deep one-on-one connection between me and each audience member as I passed by, but I was prepared for some to look away or disengage or laugh or put their phone up. Nobody did. Everyone stayed so deeply in the moment, giving me their eyes, their heart, their emotion as I offered them mine.

When you started thinking about the performance, what did you wanted it to convey? And did you the final result stayed true to that or did you make a couple of detours along the way (ideas always evolve and change)? If so, what changed and why?

The performance evolved quite a bit in the two and a half years in which I was developing it. It became much more focused and distilled. It also began as more of a durational piece and became more of a show with a narrative arc. So really, like me, it became more itself. 

Would you consider presenting it again or is this truly a one time thing?

This piece was created in conversation with the collections and architecture of the Louvre, so it really can only be performed there. But I am working on several new pieces that will be performed elsewhere. Stay tuned!

This shoot’s final result is as theatrical as you are - and as David LaChapelle. Walk us through the creative process between the two, as I am sure you also had a say in it - or did you just trust him blindly?

I have always marveled at David LaChapelle‘s work. His is a singular vision of saturated fantasy, and when you see an image of his, you know it could only come from him. When we first talked about working together on this portfolio, I said I want the full LaChapelle experience! Take me to LaChapelle Land! And he sure did. After we talked through this theme of animal instincts and our shared desire to explore it in a fantastical way through imagined creatures, he sent me renderings of the six different sets, each one more thrilling than the next. And when I arrived in his studio - which is exactly the adventureland you would hope it would be - he and his brilliant team had created in physical reality all he had imagined on the page. And we all dove in together.

This story really seems a fit with what everyone sees of Jordan Roth - sort of magical, theatrical, fantastic. Is the Jordan Roth people don’t see like that as well or is it the complete opposite? Do you have two sides to you, two “animals” (given the theme of the shoot and the magazine) within you? If so, how would you describe that other side of you?

I think we all have many facets of ourselves, and they are all true. They are all who we are. People often talk about my work in terms of characters, but I think of them as all different expressions of who I am. Character is not playing pretend, it is bringing to the foreground an element of you.

About three years ago, I remember we talked about your work and yourself, diving deeply in who you are and how honestly you shoe yourself to the world. If Jordan Roth were a performance, would he be Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty? How so, in what way?

Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty was an expression of self and of self-becoming. It was an expression of what I know of myself at this moment, and also what I know of the process of becoming a self, of seeing myself, and experiencing being seen. It was a deeply personal expression, but one that I now understand many others found themselves in as well.

Also in that interview, you mentioned “Fashion for me is a deeply meaningful way to express myself, both an outward expression to others and an inward expression to myself. It’s a virtuous cycle where the process of creating a look and living in it for that day or night allows me both to access feelings and freedoms within myself, and at the same time, to convey those feelings and freedoms to others.” Is fashion, therapy?

I think that’s really interesting too think of the therapeutic effect of fashion. But for me, it has become more of an artistic practice. A daily opportunity to create on my own canvas. And it can be that for all of us. 

And if clothes you wear are a mirror of yourself (or of your thousand selves (none of us are just one thing, as you so accurately said in that same interview), are the clothes you put in one of your shows, or a performance like Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty, a mirror of a sort of an alter ego? Or not at all? How so?

The clothes I created for Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty were part of the performance. They weren’t what I wore during the performance, they were the performance. They were each formed from long lengths of white fabric, a nod to the blank canvas of the painter and the toile of the couturier. They each received projections of art or architecture from the Louvre collection, so they were explorations of the self as canvas, and the conversation between the body and the art. Each of them transformed in different ways, and lead us through a journey of metamorphosis and expansion.

Speaking of couture, and being such a fashion enthusiastic - and showing it -, I am sure you have your own collection of couture pieces. How many - and do you have a fave (and why is it your fave)?

I don’t think I could choose a favorite, but each of them spoke to me in a unique and profound way, which is why they became part of the collection.

To know you is to know you are a passionate professional, but also a relentless activist, having been and being involved in an incredible amount of human rights projects, namely equality ones. In an issue dedicated to Animal Instinct, is it an instinct of yours to simply become involved? Is it something that you feel is greater than you? Because you do juggle an incredible amount of areas in your life, fatherhood included, but never shy away from the greater good.

That’s such an interesting question because we think of animal instincts as perhaps our basest selves, our survival instincts for our basic needs. But of course, community is a survival instinct. We need our tribe in order to survive. And also in order to thrive. 

I also know that it’s 2025 and you still get a bit of backlash in the comment section for, really, just being yourself. I also know you deal with it with the calm and assertiveness that you exude, but does it sometimes affect you in your gut? Or truly never, not at all?

I found my way to this method of dealing with the nastiness, by reposting the worst ones and turning them on their heads. Those are the ones I can laugh at because they feel very far from myself. The ones that do hit me harder, are the ones that pick at a doubt or a fear I do have about myself. I’m not going to tell you what those are, so I don’t get more of them!

Speaking of instinct, when you embark on such a massive project like the one in the Louvre, how much would you say is instinct and how much do you say is analytical?

I have learned that a lot more of it is instinct that I may have thought. Or perhaps a better word is trust. To trust that the work is inside you and your job is to let it come out. To not block the work. As Martha Graham wrote in her precious letter to Agnes de Mille, our job as artists is to keep the channel open.

I’m not sure if you remember all of the Vogue Portugal interview from three years ago, but I’ll ask anyway: what do you think - if anything - changed most about Jordan Roth throughout this time?

These last few years since we spoke have been tremendously fertile time. I have grown into myself in ways that I was just starting to germinate then. In ways that I may not have had the words for then, but I knew the feeling. So let’s talk again in a couple of years, and we’ll see what the becoming becomes!?

Translated from the original in the Animal Instinct issue, published October 2025. For full credits and stories, please check the print issue.