Valentino for New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet has been on a serious fashion kick recently. First there were Gilles Mendel’s costumes for Melissa Barak’s Call Me Ben a couple of years ago. Then there were Stella McCartney’s designs for Ocean’s Kingdom, with music and story by her dad Sir Paul. Most recently, there were the Rodarte and Mendel costumes at the company’s spring gala.

In September, you can add Valentino Garavani to that impressive list. The Italian designer is making costumes for three ballets to be performed at the company’s fall gala, September 20.

What will they look like? Well, Valentino created costumes for Vienna’s 2010 New Year’s Concert, featuring Paris Opéra Ballet étoiles Eleonora Abbagnato and Nicolas Le Riche as well as dancers from the Vienna State Opera, which might give us a sense of his ballet style. Here’s a video of Abbagnato and Le Riche performing at the concert, dressed in Valentino’s signature red:

And here are the Vienna State Opera dancers, in rosette-trimmed pinks and greys:

What do you think? Can’t wait to see what he comes up with for NYCB!