Sarah Jessica Parker Steps Out as a Black Angel at the New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala

Parker was among the first to arrive at the David H. Koch Theater. Accompanied by her husband, Matthew Broderick, she effortlessly showed off her three-dimensional, honeycomb-like dress. A sheer black net flowed into a long train, while the wings fanned dramatically from her shoulders. “The wings were created to extend the body in a morphing silhouette,” van Herpen told Vogue. “That’s what I did with her dress and with all the costumes in the performance—to have an aura around someone. The design of the dress is like scales; it reminds me of fish in water.”

Van Herpen revealed it took four months to create Parker’s look, made from an ultra-light “air fabric” produced in Japan. “It’s the lightest fabric on the planet. One thread is five times thinner than a human hair,” the Dutch designer explained. “The bodice uses what I call the honeycomb technique—it’s three-dimensionally stitched, which creates depth and fluidity in movement.”

Foreseeable Future marks van Herpen’s second appearance at the Fall Fashion Gala—her designs were first seen in Benjamin Millepied’s 2013 ballet Neverwhere. “She wears it so beautifully,” van Herpen said of Parker with a smile. “She’s like a black angel.”

The gala opened with Gianna Reisen’s Composer’s Holiday, a 2017 original work choreographed when Reisen was just 17, making her the youngest choreographer in NYCB’s history. The twelve-minute piece featured lightning-fast footwork set to Lukas Foss’s 1940 neo-classical composition “Three American Pieces.” The audience gasped when a group of dancers lifted and tossed one performer into the air. Costumes by the late Virgil Abloh of Off-White contrasted light and dark tones, creating a visually striking tableau.

Next came William Forsythe’s flirty Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux (1992), set to an electronic score by his longtime collaborator Thom Willems. The piece included costumes by Gianni Versace and featured the second section—a pas de deux—performed in matching yellow skirts and sheer mesh tops designed by Forsythe himself.