Inside New York City Ballet’s Long-Awaited Fall Fashion Gala
For New York City balletomanes, last night marked a return to normalcy. After several canceled seasons, a city that had been sorely missing its ballet got it back. Though throughout the pandemic, digital streams of the artform were plentiful, absolutely nothing can come close to the thrill and majesty of witnessing a live ballet performance.
Though the fall season of New York City Ballet kicked off last week, this past Thursday night marked its annual Fall Fashion Gala—an event drummed up by Sarah Jessica Parker. Ten years ago, the glamorous ballet patron had the thought to pair choreographers with designers—from Valentino to Virgil Abloh—to brew fashion magic for the stage. (After all, there’s a precedent for this type of collaboration famously set by Chanel.) The designers on the roster last night were Christopher John Rogers and Esteban Cortázar and both whipped up creations alongside the NYCB’s director of costumes Marc Happel. “I think if you notice, the costumes for ballet can be very simple—that’s partly my job, that the costumes are not going to overpower the ballet. It is about the choreography, first,” explained Happen in a delightful film that was screened to guests in the audience at Lincoln Center at last night’s event. “Except, at the fall fashion gala.” His words rang true; last night was all about the clothes.
Designers were in the house; yes, Christopher John Rogers and Esteban Cortázar but also Kerby Jean-Raymond, Laura Kim, Cynthia Rowley, Zac Posen, and Prabal Gurung. (The latter two had previously participated in the annual event). But there was also fashion on the bodies of everyone in attendance. Kelsey Lu dazzled in a striped CJR, gala co-chair Diane Kruger wore a delightful Jason Wu number, Gurung wore a jacket of his own design, and dancer Unity Phelan wore pink Carolina Herrera. Though she wasn’t dancing on the night, principal ballerina Tiler Peck wore a gossamer pink Valentino dress, as did Lili Buffet—”It’s one of the most favorite things I’ve worn,” she gushed.
Kicking off the evening was Deborah Roberts, who was first to welcome the audience. “I want to pass along a personal message from the woman who really conceived of this idea, Sarah Jessica Parker. She’s not able to be with us tonight, unfortunately, because of her busy shooting schedule. I’ve seen the trailers around town—she’s a busy lady! This is the first Fall Gala that she’s missed and she wanted me to send her sincere apologies and her very best wishes for a beautiful night.”
First on the program was Jerome Robbins’s wonderful “Glass Pieces,” with music by Philip Glass. Dancers Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar dazzled in the piece that Robbins injected with an energy of a Metropolis with balletic equivalents to missed connections and happenstance encounters. Next came the world premiere of “Suspended Animation,” which was choreographed by Sidra Bell. As Happel had declared, fashion was at the forefront, especially in this piece with costumes by Christopher John Rogers. The designer seemed to borrow colors from a pack of highlighters and splashed them onto tulle-puffed costumes that dancers shed as the performance progressed. What did the designer want us to remember most about his costumes? “Teletubbies,” he remarked cheekily. “That the shapes were inspired by Teletubbies.”
