Dries Van Noten collaborates with the New York City Ballet

Born to a family of tailors, Dries Van Noten studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and graduated in 1981. His career as a designer really took off in 1986, when he went to London to present his first collection with five of his contemporaries (Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, and Dirk Bikkembergs). They became known as the "Antwerp Six" or the "Group of Six". Their designs were quickly snapped up by numerous buyers from all around the world. From the 1990s onwards, Van Noten designed costumes for several ballets by the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaker, another Belgian prodigy, including those for Just Before (1997), Drumming (1998), and Rain (2001 et 2011). Last year, the designer also created the costumes for the dance spectacle Hagoromo by David Michaek.

This time, he will be working for a gala performance of the New York City Ballet. For five consecutive years now, during the whole month of September, this New York based ballet company has been organising evenings dedicated to dance and fashion, in collaboration with the actress Sarah Jessica Parker. The Belgian designer will dress the dancers for one of the five performances of the evening.

In a similar vein, other major designers have also created collections for dance companies and shows including Jean Paul Gaultier, Riccardo Tisci, Stella McCartney, Prada and even Rodarte. Besides Dries Van Noten, other designers including Narciso Rodriguez, Jason Wu and Rosie Assoulin will also be designing costumes for the dancers of the NYC Ballet.