Fashion Takes Center Stage at the NYCB Gala
Photo: Erin Baiano
For the past three years, the head-turning gowns on patrons at New York City Ballet’s fall gala have had major competition — the costumes onstage. Thanks to the efforts of board vice-chair Sarah Jessica Parker, the choreographers who create for these evenings have the opportunity to work with designers from outside the ballet world (often Parker herself helps make connections). This year’s roster of choreographers and designers spoke about making dance and design meet for the fourth annual Fall Fashion gala tonight.
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck I'm a huge, huge fan of Justin’s work. There’s a real humanity in it that we wanted to capture in our des...
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck I'm a huge, huge fan of Justin’s work. There’s a real humanity in it that we wanted to capture in our designs. We didn't want to just dress the dancers in Opening Ceremony outfits.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck There's a gradation in color story that graduates the coloration from one dancer to the next.
Photo: Eri...
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck There's a gradation in color story that graduates the coloration from one dancer to the next.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck We used cutout shapes for all the parts where dancers connect and touch. It created an interesting patter...
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck We used cutout shapes for all the parts where dancers connect and touch. It created an interesting pattern.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HUMBERTO LEON, Costumes for Justin Peck I really respect Justin's process; we have a similar way in which we think.
Photo: Erin Baiano
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer working with designers Marques’Almeida I’m looking to find a designer who's going to make me think about what I’m ...
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer working with designers Marques’Almeida I’m looking to find a designer who's going to make me think about what I’m doing in a different light but will find a way to do what they do and make it danceable. I spent a lot of time online doing research, and all my friends kept recommending Marques'Almeida to me. I saw their clothing, and I was thrilled; it seemed so "now," like it was real but inventive and just so fresh.
Photo: Erin Baiano
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer working with designers Marques’Almeida I emailed Sarah Jessica Parker about it; she liked the idea, and she reache...
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer working with designers Marques’Almeida I emailed Sarah Jessica Parker about it; she liked the idea, and she reached out to them, and they were really into the idea of collaboration.
Photo: Erin Baiano
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer Working with designers Marques’Almeida Marques'Almeida worked a lot with these color-blocked chiffons. When you he...
TROY SCHUMACHER, choreographer Working with designers Marques’Almeida Marques'Almeida worked a lot with these color-blocked chiffons. When you hear chiffon and ballet you think instantly of one thing, and this is totally not that. But it is a fabric that moves very well. I choreographed about two-thirds of the ballet before they started sketching, even, but they were instantly seeing videos and photographs that I sent them. I think they responded to the athleticism of the movement, how much their clothing could be moving throughout. And they brought up how much they responded to the idea of these seven super-individual people who, when they come together, create something larger than the sum of their parts.
Photo: Erin Baiano
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with designer Zuhair Murad I just had a feeling when I saw his work, I guess — he really knows a woman's bo...
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with designer Zuhair Murad I just had a feeling when I saw his work, I guess — he really knows a woman's body and how to create proportions that are simple but beautifully constructed and flattering. The music I chose has a lot of classical roots, so I felt like the elegance of his work would really suit it.
Photo: Erin Baiano
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with Zuhair Murad, designer I needed femininity and softness in there. [Zuhair's] designs for the men have ...
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with Zuhair Murad, designer I needed femininity and softness in there. [Zuhair's] designs for the men have the same simplicity in the silhouette, and it plays off of a classical tunic a bit — sleeveless, with accents of the same lacework and embroidery. They're so intricate and gorgeous. It would be easy to go an avant-garde route, and I kind of wanted to go the other way with it. I have a tendency to micromanage, and you have to have a balance of trusting the artist you're with and keeping the aesthetic cohesive.
Photo: Erin Baiano
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with designer Zuhair Murad I still dance myself, so I know what I want on my body when I look in the mirror...
MYLES THATCHER, choreographer Working with designer Zuhair Murad I still dance myself, so I know what I want on my body when I look in the mirror; what I want to hide, what I want to accentuate. We’ve run into the challenge with complex partnering that we have to adjust where we put sequins and beading; the men can get kinda torn up by all that. Translating designs from runway to a stage is always a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time Zuhair’s designs do lend themselves to movement; he sees how a body moves, and you see that in his runway shows, too. Seeing his dresses in motion brings them to life.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet I started my line in Japan, and I had experience there designing costumes...
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet I started my line in Japan, and I had experience there designing costumes for an electropop group called Perfume, but that was very different from dance. Robert approached me via email and it was really a happy surprise; he told me he’d looked through all my collections on Style.com, and he liked my aesthetic.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet I love trying to take something very traditional and classic and reconcep...
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet I love trying to take something very traditional and classic and reconceptualizing it in a modern context. For my own line, my inspirations are usually from my Japanese heritage, taking traditional elements and creating pieces that appropriate that for the modern woman. And Robert and I are from the same generation; I feel like we share the same vocabulary.
Photo: Erin Baiano
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet When I heard the music, I really felt like it represented nature and had ...
HANAKO MAEDA, designer of ADEAM Working with choreographer Robert Binet When I heard the music, I really felt like it represented nature and had this sort of aquatic feel — it felt like being embraced by the ocean. I wanted to express that especially through the women's costumes. So I came up with this idea of creating embroidery that replicates fish scales. I used blue fabric in different shades and the embroidery is on top of nude mesh, so it looks like the scales are growing on the dancers’ bodies. I also wanted to create this look of the dancers glistening like they’re emerging from under water, so I approached Swarovski, and they’re sponsoring crystals for the costumes. They will be applied on top of the fish scales, which are dégradé — they go from dark to light blue and fade into white. The crystals replicate that effect. It's been really exciting to see how the process is unraveling! Photo: Erin Baiano
PETER COPPING, designer working with choreographer Peter Martins It has been an exciting new challenge for me to design costumes for Thou Swell, ...
PETER COPPING, designer working with choreographer Peter Martins It has been an exciting new challenge for me to design costumes for Thou Swell, and to capture the glamour of the 1930s in a fresh and modern way.
Photo: Erin Baiano
PETER COPPING, designer working with choreographer Peter Martins I very much enjoyed the collaboration with Peter Martins and the entire team of ...
PETER COPPING, designer working with choreographer Peter Martins I very much enjoyed the collaboration with Peter Martins and the entire team of New York City Ballet.
Photo: Erin Baiano
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