From fashion to the stage the New York City ballet company history and innovation are key to creating amazing designs. Gianna Reisen, Marc Happel, Humberto Leon, Zac Posen and Moderator: Donya Archer Bommer discussed 10 years of creating costumes for the New York City Ballet Fall Fashion Gala which is coming up this year on September 28th. According to the panel, the fashion gala is the one event where costumes take precedence over all the other performance elements and the Ballet has worked with over 30 renowned designers over the years creating a crossover between fashion and dance. Gianna Reisen choreographer and former ballerina said, "For the fall fashion gala the costumes are the first thing to think about because ethe fashion element is so important to an event like this."
According to Marc Happel, Dancers have an affinity for wearing costumes that previous legendary dancers wore. They love the connection tot he past and the tags of the costumes even bear the names of past dancers who performed in them. So it creates an incredible sense of living history. The New York City Ballet is also unique for its archival collection of costumes which many designers have used when creating the costume designs. This season, the audience will be in for a special treat with the costumes. The panelists revealed that the costumes will be adorned with over 800,000 Swarovski crystals which are currently being sewn in the workshop in preparation for the gala.
Zac Posen who has been a household name in the NY fashion scene for years is one of the designers the ballet has tapped in the past to work on the Fall Gala. He spoke about his experience designing costumes for that and other projects at the ballet. He talked about how excited he was to explore the archives when he first started the project. His designs focused on deconstruction and he recalled an instant where he had a discussion with his subject Lauren who he was designing for. He said all designers should have this moment where they are able to connect with their subject and for him he was able to get in touch with the sense of reflection the dancer was experiencing at the time about career, past performances and more. Posen also discussed how when looking through the archives he got to feel the presence of the past dancers when looking at the costumes. This inspired Posen to create what he called a "distorted line of history of the pieces" He recalled turning pieces inside out and also was inspired by the extreme discipline required for ballet dancers. He focused his designs on capturing a place of beauty and darkness a style which he affectionally named "fucked up Degas". Marc Happel chimed in remembering the comical label.
For another designer who had previously partnered with the ballet, Humberto Leon, the ballet became a place for him to explore social controversy and design. He even ended up showing his collection at the ballet one season and he recalled that the performance aspect has allowed his pieces form that collection to take on a life of their own. He said hat he wanted people to wear the clothes beyond the ballet and interact with arts in a beautiful way.
The choreographer Gianna added her perspective as a former dancer saying that costumes should make dancers feel confident and powerful. Bringing high fashion into ballet is such an interesting balance and challenge because Gianna wants to ensure her dancers feel good in their costumes. She added that the care and time the designers put into personalizing the costumes really makes a difference for the dancers. She said that it's a whole different experience as a dancer to wear something you feel good in.
Marc Happel pointed out that designers also take away new lessons and perspectives after experiencing working with the ballet. So the exchange is not just one sided with designers bringing fashion perspectives to the ballet gala but they also walk away with often new outlooks and techniques.
Posen agreed there is definitely a crossover and recalled some of the things he had learned saying, "my experience was learning close up vs. distance and considering things like lighting, space etc. is huge. Designing for the audience being far away there's a boldness that needs to take place."
For Humberto Leon thinking about movement and flexibility that is used in dance helped him realize how uncomfortable most normal clothes actually are. He told the audience that it really helped change his relationship with clothing.
Zac Posen encouraged the audience to explore the ballet as you never know what you might learn from it. The inspiring panel wrapped up and I don't know about you but am definitely looking forward to seeing those 800k Swarovski crystals!
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