Sarah Jessica Parker Gets Ready for New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala in a Custom Simone Rocha Gown

There are few people more closely associated with the New York City Ballet’s annual fall fashion gala than Sarah Jessica Parker. She conceived the event in 2012 as a meeting point between two creative disciplines – inviting fashion designers to work directly with choreographers on costumes – and, 14 years later, remains its founding president. This year’s program featured three new works at the David H. Koch Theater, including a pas de deux by NYCB resident choreographer Justin Peck, styled by Simone Rocha and set to music by Gabriel Kahane. mirror/sky (landslide)an original composition inspired by “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks.

For Parker, the lasting thrill lies in what these imaginative collaborations could bring to ballet. “The possibility that this evening there will be a new audience for various reasons,” she says. Vogue. “Because someone contacted them and invited them for the first time. Because of Stevie Nicks. Because of Justin Peck.” Over the years, she says, fashion and ballet have come to “work together so well,” drawing more attention to the company.

For the October 1 gala, Parker naturally turned to Simone Rocha herself. “I always try to wear one of the designers,” she says of her sartorial approach for the evening. “My goal is to wear something that the designer is passionate about and that sometimes reflects the artistry that they put into their conversations with the choreographer.” Her verdict on the finished look was characteristically succinct: “It’s Simone Rocha. Classic. Magical.” (In 14 years of fall fashion galas, Parker has dressed the room in opulence: capes, tutu-like silhouettes, monumental bows and, last year, Iris van Herpen wings.)

Rocha developed Parker’s dress from an existing runway piece, reworking its hand-laced and untied ribbons in a pale ballet pink intended as a nod to pointe shoes. The resulting dress was almost balletic in itself: a sheer, delicately embroidered floor-length gown, adorned with long satin ribbons that ran vertically down the body. Against this, Parker’s hair – by Serge Normant – was pulled into an intricate ribbon-woven braid, continuing that sense of movement from neckline to hem.