Fashion and Dance Meet at the New York City Ballet Gala

Coco Chanel’s costumes in “Le Train Bleu,” Christian Lacroix’s costumes in “La Source,” and Norma Kamali’s costumes in “In the Upper Room”

Fashion has traditionally had a home in the dance world. During the Diaghilev era, Coco Chanel created costumes for the famed Ballets Russes’ production of “Le Train Bleu” in 1924. That collaboration launched a trend that has seen a prestigious list of designers collaborate with dancemakers including Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, Isaac Mizrahi, Norma Kamali, Christian Lacroix, and Rodarte.

Last fall, New York City Ballet premiered a ballet at its fall gala that featured costumes by Valentino (it should be noted that neither the ballet by Peter Martins nor the costumes earned critical acclaim.) For this year’s fall gala, which is being held Thursday, Sept. 19, fashion and dance are a central theme.

The gala, the brainchild of actress and NYCB board member Sarah Jessica Parker, has paired three choreographers with three renowned designers.

The pairings are:

• Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj with designer  Olivier Theyskens
• Choreographer Justin Peck with designer Prabal Gurung
• Choreographer Benjamin Millepied with designer Iris van Herpen

Marc Happel, City Ballet’s director of costumes, has worked closely with the designers and said the collaborations have been an eye-opener for the designers as they grapple with the unique demands of creating for dance.

“They’re very used to designing for the runway or the red carpet. Suddenly you’re giving them the challenge of designing a costume which has to be worn by incredibly athletic people—dancers, doing incredible movement onstage,” Happel said. “This whole factor of movement and being able to dance in what they’re designing is new for the designers who haven’t worked with dance before.”

“What I also have to get (the designers) to really concentrate on are the realities of being onstage.” Those realities, he said, include the effect stage lights may have on colors of the costumes, the amount of physical handling that may occur as a dancer is lifted and turned. “I also have to get the designers to understand that there’s an incredible sweat factor involved, especially the men. These costumes have to be cleaned regularly,” he added.

That still leaves a lot of potential for some interesting creations among the collaborations.

For the Preljocaj ballet, which is inspired by the Salem witch trials, the ballerinas will dance in unitards decorated with silicone shapes. For the Millepied ballet, van Herpen’s costumes are to be decorated with hundreds of plastic pieces that are intended to resemble an armadillo. The women will also wear special boots attached to their pointe shoes.

Happel said the dancers are enjoying the process of having something created on them that isn’t the usual leotard, tights and tutus. “Many of them are quite good about the challenge of dealing with costumes that are a little different,” he said. “I think they like the challenge. They find it to be a very interesting process.”

—Karyn D. Collins