The Times Are Racing: Justin Peck and Opening Ceremony at the NYCB

by Paige Reddinger

On Saturday, Opening Ceremony brought down the house at Lincoln Center with its creative collaboration with New York City Ballet choreographer Justin Peck. Foregoing the traditional runway show by showing the Spring 2017 collection (see now, buy now) ahead of the NYFW calendar, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim opted to display their pieces through another medium. Opening Ceremony has long been a trailblazer with their fashion shows, choosing formats from a theater play with Spike Jonze to a comedic performance by Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen. It’s also not the first time they’ve collaborated with Peck—for Spring 2016 he was enlisted to create a dance sequence that paraded down the OC runway.

The New York City Ballet performance was part of a trio of ballets for its art series, including Peck’s The Times Are Racing, Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, and Pontus Lindberg’s The Shimmering Asphalt. Everyone from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Claire Danes, and Hugh Dancy to St. Vincent, Ryan McGinley, Collier Schorr, Dev Hynes and Solange were in the crowd. Surprise guests included Maury Povich and Connie Chung…believe it or not, they were, in fact, guests of Opening Ceremony! Meg Ryan also showed up, but was there separate from OC’s guests. What a crowd, and yet hardly anyone was perched front row, not even the celebs.

The dancers in Peck’s performance sported sneakers instead of ballet shoes and t-shirts with words like “Change,” “Defy,” and “Shout,” all of which are fitting for the rebellion against the traditional show, but also for the mood of recent political protests. The Spring 2017 collection was inspired by 19th century photographs of Ellis Island, the entry point for U.S. immigrants. Prints were inspired by W.W. Denslow’s illustration of The Wizard of Oz and other classic American fairy tales, a nod to the power of dreams. This was Opening Ceremony’s invitation to join the movement.

Opening Ceremony Spring 2017 Collection Images

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