A Night At The Ballet

Photos: Paul Kolnik for the New York City Ballet

Following the footsteps of Valentino and Rodarte, Joseph Altuzarra has designed costumes for the New York City Ballet's production of "A Place For Us", a pas de deux which premiered last week.

"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to expand my mind creatively beyond just my collections," said the Out 100 honoree to the Wall Street Journal. "I was particularly interested in men's dance costumes; its simplicity and how it accentuated the dancers' bodies."

For the male ballerina's costume, Altuzarra found inspiration in old rehearsals photos of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev. However, the off-white draped tank top designed for principal dancer Robert Fairchild had to be slightly modified from the original sketch to match American standards: "In the U.S., more so than in Europe, men's nipples are something we don't expose", said Marc Happel, the company's costume director, "so I advised him to raise the neckline."

Click here for more information on "A Place For Us" and to buy tickets.