Say ballet costumes, and most people probably think of tutus and leotards.

If you’re Iris Van Herpen, you think 3D printing, laser cutting and vaporous honeycomb structures.

All of the latter will be on display Wednesday night at the New York City Ballet‘s fall fashion gala, where choreographer Jamar Roberts’ latest work will premiere, with music by Arca and costumes by the Dutch couturier, synonymous with cutting-edge technologies and fabrics, scientific collaborations and otherworldly silhouettes. Five performances are planned.

Roberts and Marc Happel, the NYCB’s director of costumes, were both familiar with Van Herpen’s designs and she was their first choice for a new ballet that addresses the perils of technology, and the importance of being in tune with nature. Jamar’s shorthand for his two troupes of dancers was “chaos and calm.”

Happel had already collaborated with Van Herpen on NYCB’s 2014 fashion gala, and has followed her career since, noticing that her vaporous fall 2025 haute couture collection lent itself to the latter group. By contrast, what the chaos crew wears is “very steely, very reflective and works in a completely different way.”

To be sure, the costume department relished the challenge.

“Costume making and costume design can be a very antiquated business, and then suddenly we found ourselves using computers to create programs and print out patterns for her costumes,” Happel said. “What she’s designed has been pushing costume construction and design into the 21st century.”

What’s more, Van Herpen was a classical dancer before she pirouetted into fashion.

“It’s incredibly advantageous because she already knows…how the costume needs to move with the dancers and not inhibit them,” Happel said.

“I felt very at home in this project,” Van Herpen said on Tuesday ahead of final fittings. “It feels so aligned with the layers that I bring into my work.…We talked about the calm and the chaos and these two different worlds that we’re all trying to relate to.”

For costumes with a natural, organic feeling, the designer reprised her “honeycomb” technique from the spring 2025 couture, which involves stitching super-light Japanese “air fabric” in many layers.

“It has a very beautiful flow. And we’ve created a very beautiful silhouette for the ballet that is sort of morphing around the dancers when they dance,” she said. “For me, it creates a very ghost-like presence on stage that is really embodying the concept of metamorphosis.”

Meanwhile, a printing technique from her spring 2018 “Ludi Naturae” collection was reworked to evoke the alienating dangers of technology, creating “sort of a glitched pattern that is on the skin… It has a very beautiful, surrealistic look on stage.”

She also took the time to “think of the best techniques, so they are actually very comfortable.”

Happel and Van Herpen collaborated closely to make sure the costumes would be durable enough to withstand any and all movements, including lifts and floor work.

Despite the delicate, intricate nature of Van Herpen’s designs, they’re tougher than they appear — as demonstrated dramatically in a dress from a 2021 collection modeled by elite skydiver Domitille Kiger as she plummeted at 300 kilometers an hour in a heavily embroidered gown that stretches and twitches.

“Part of our job is to create costumes that the designers have designed in a way that will hold up to the physicality of ballet,” Happel said, while noting that the workshops will be at the ready for any necessary repairs.

“I try to combine the two different challenges, having the lightness and the movability, but also the sturdiness of being able to do everything with it,” Van Herpen said.

To be sure, her background in dance provided other invaluable insights into the critical role of costumes.

“On one hand, they dress the body, but on the other hand, they also dress the story, the concept, and even the inner worlds of these dancers,” she said. “I also know as a dancer myself that what you wear really influences the way you move and the way you feel.”