What better way to mark the collaboration between Reformation and the New York City Ballet than with a night at the ballet?
On Monday evening, New York “It” girls such as Isabella Massenet, Ivy Getty, Kimberly Drew, Selah Marley, Candice Huffine and more flocked to Lincoln Center for a theatrical treat: a seat inside a private working rehearsal with the NYCB, followed by a cocktail party in celebration of the NYCB x Reformation line, which launched earlier that day.
Many guests were dressed in frocks and separates from the collaboration, as they mingled in the lobby of the David H. Koch building sipping Champagne ahead of the curtain call. Inside, the crowd took their seats as Wendy Whelan, associate artistic cirector of the New York City Ballet, introduced the group of dancers who would be taking the stage for the rehearsal. Each dancer was dressed in the Reformation line, having gotten to pick out their favorites to wear for the night.
“The designs are beautiful, they feel very very comfortable, the dancers love it,” Whelan said.
After rehearsing, Whelan took questions from the audience, covering all things from the career span of a typical ballerina’s career to what it’s like doing fashion collaborations at the NYCB (they just recently celebrated one with Wes Gordon).
“[It was about] trying to give Wes his vision as an artist and a creator but also keep honoring the tradition of what the ballet costumes have been like,” Whelan said of that process. “It’s always fun for us to collaborate. You never know what you’re going to get.”
Afterward, the crowd moved upstairs, where Champagne was reissued (no drinks allowed in the theater, naturally), and mingling resumed. A pianist, dressed in a deep red Reformation x NYCB dress, provided the soundtrack, a table from Brooklyn jewelry company Catbird drew an early line for permanent gold bracelet zapping, and in another corner, painter Blair Breitenstein was doing miniature portraits for sitting subjects.