New York City Ballet's Fall Gala premieres tomorrow, September 23, and will feature carefully crafted costumes by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Mary Katrantzou, Thom Browne, and Carolina Herrera, according to Racked. These elite fashion designers help raise the already high level of anticipation for the event.
Marc Happel directs the NYCB's costume team of 17 members, and feels the pressure to create the costumes according to the fashion designers' visions during this stressful time of year when the gala coincides with Fashion Week. Sarah Jessica Parker, the vice chairman of the ballet's board of directors, had the idea to collaborate alongside the fashion world in order to make this an even more high-profile event.
Most materials come from the New York's Garment District, but some are specially imported, like the tulle from Italy and the stretch fabric from Germany. Some of the designers created costume ideas from scratch, while others pulled concepts from previous designs.
After the Fall Gala, the show will be performed a few more times over the season, and then the costumes that required hours of skilled labor - even up to 40 hours - will be placed in storage. While the costumes may not live long, their impressions will certainly last: "I firmly believe costumes can add to a ballet," Happel tells Racked. "They can tell you about the style of the ballet, the feeling of it - whether it's a glamorous evening, or abstract and modern, or if it's a classical tutu ballet. It gives the audience an idea of what they are looking at."
For the full article, visit Racked.