Celebrating Seven Years of Fashion and Ballet in New York City

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Ballet and fashion have long been intertwined, with brands like Dior, Prada, Azzedine Alaïa, and Dries Van Noten looking to the dance style for inspiration (CR even dedicated an entire issue to it). But nowhere is the marriage of both worlds so brazenly celebrated than at the New York City Ballet‘s (NYCB) Fall Fashion Gala, a glitzy, red-carpet affair held each September at Lincoln Center’s tony David H. Koch theater. The brainchild of Sarah Jessica Parker, who serves on the NYCB’s board as Vice Chairman, the event unveils couture-level collaborations between renowned choreographers and designers.

It’s something near and dear to the Sex and the City star-turned-New York City cultural icon’s heart; as a child, she grew up watching ballet and even attended the School of American Ballet in Manhattan. A regular fixture at New York Fashion Week each season, Parker created the Gala back when the shows were held at Lincoln Center. And though the institution is no longer the apex of the New York City fashion landscape (IMG’s contract with the venue ended in 2015), Parker’s fondness for the historic cultural center—and the art of ballet—remains apparent. Now, seven years later, the culmination of Parker’s work, with the help of NYCB’s Director of Costumes Marc Happel and the ateliers of its costume shop, has manifested into a spectacular installation. Housed on the first and third floors at Intersect, a sleek, Lexus-owned space in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Design in Motion: A New York City Ballet Fall Fashion Gala Retrospective sees top designer costumes from the past seven years alongside original sketches and performance video footage.

Highlights include Iris Van Herpen’s 2013 plastic costume, a collaboration with French choreographer Benjamin Millepied that included a famous—albeit controversial—sock sewn onto the pointe shoe to resemble an S-shaped boot. “This [marked] our transition into the 21st century because we realized if we had a computer programmer figure these patterns out, it would be much faster,” Happel says during a preview of the exhibition. “We put it on a thumb drive, plugged it into a computer at a Kinko’s, and printed out these giant patterns for us.”

Additionally, Thom Browne’s unforgettable get-ups for Troy Schumacher’s Clearing Dawn in 2014 were particularly transfixing. “[Browne] was somebody who jumped on board so emphatically,” Happel explains. “I also thought that it was one of the years that was the most successful because he wanted [an aesthetic] that would give the feeling of school kids, or kids wearing their brothers’ clothing. Everything was kind of exaggerated, and it was just very successful in that way.”

Other notable pieces include Peter Copping’s 1930s glamorous ball gowns for Peter Martins’ Thou Swell; Dries Van Noten’s abstract art-inspired confections for Justin Peck’s The Dreamers; and Gareth Pugh’s dark, blood- and leather-inspired costumes for Matthew Neenan’s The Exchange last year.

Happel tells CR he’d love to see what Gucci’s Alessandro Michele would do. “He’s got such an amazing imagination; it’d be great to see a ballet in which he designed [the costumes].” Another, he adds, is Miuccia Prada.

While there was no particular significance in unveiling a retrospective two years shy of a ten-year anniversary, Parker and Happel say there was simply an archive building, and thanks to sponsor Lexus, they were able to celebrate it. “I think any time you accumulate a lot of art,” Parker tells CR, “there are new and interesting ways of talking [about it]. It’s amazing to look around and see what fruit has been born of it.” She says she was especially fond of the drawings. “Aren’t you just mad for the sketches?” she asks.

Considering Parker has dabbled in everything from footwear and fragrance to contemporary wear and most recently wine, it’s worth wondering whether she’d give designing ballet costumes a go. “Never,” she tells CR. “I don’t do what they do, and I’m smart enough to know that and not pretend or be delusional. But I am the best audience in the world.”

Design in Motion: A New York City Ballet Fall Fashion Gala Retrospective is now open daily at Intersect by Lexus, located at 412 West 14th Street New York, NY 10014 through October 20, 2019.

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