Carolina Herrera’s Wes Gordon to Design Costumes for New York City Ballet
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Wes Gordon will design costumes for the New York City Ballet this fall on behalf of the Carolina Herrera brand.
Gordon is the sole fashion designer participating in this year’s fall gala, which will also mark the kickoff for City Ballet’s 75th anniversary year.
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Previous NYCB fall galas have focused on premiering new works from rising choreographic talents alongside costumes from important fashion designers. Given the company’s significant anniversary, this year’s event will instead stage two works that are elemental to City Ballet’s history.
With that, Gordon will envision new costumes for Balanchine’s 1970 work “Who Cares?” The George Gershwin-scored piece was created as a jazzy, hell-of-a-town type homage to New York City’s bustling energy. For its fall gala, City Ballet will stage excerpts from the piece featuring 10 dancers in new looks designed by Gordon.
“As a New Yorker, I look forward every year to NYCB’s fall season and gala. I have attended numerous times and have always dreamt of being the guest designer; it’s a tremendous honor. I have been a longtime fan of Wendy Whelan, associate artistic director of NYCB — having photographed her in partnership with Elizaveta Porodina for our fall 2020 collection — and I’m excited to work with her and the NYCB costume shop on this project,” Gordon told WWD.
While Gordon has not seen “Who Cares?” live, he’s watched archival footage as research for his designs. “It’s a very fitting piece for Herrera — high energy, fun and [a] celebration of New York,” he said.
As in past years, Gordon will work side-by-side with City Ballet costume director Marc Happel and the company’s in-house atelier of seamstresses and costume technicians.
Happel said the costumes in “Who Cares?” were ripe for reinvention. “There is opportunity to bring new sophistication and elements of the city to the costume design for the ballet. ‘Who Cares?’ is bubbly like Champagne, effervescent like the city itself. It is an entertaining and uplifting ballet, with a lot of old New York period design about it. I was thrilled when Wes Gordon signed on to redesign it, I have always thought he would be a great designer to bring to NYCB. His collections for Carolina Herrera have an elegant sophistication but also playfulness about them.”
“Who Cares?” last got a wardrobe update in 2013 with costumes by Santo Loquasto, which were designed for the piece’s full cast and 40-minute run.
City Ballet’s 75th anniversary fall gala is scheduled for Oct. 5 and will also include a full run of Jerome Robbins’ “Glass Pieces,” with a score by Philip Glass. On Oct. 11, the company will stage a one-night-only tribute to its anniversary, staging the same program from its inaugural performance, which was held on Oct. 11, 1948.
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