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"   Photo: Getty Images   Less than 24 hours before she&amp;#039;d hit the red carpet at New York City Ballet&amp;#039;s annual Fall Gala, Sarah Jessica Parker was practically a human mannequin for Prabal Gurung and Olivier Theyskens as they laughed and stitched her gown together. Oh, to be a fly on the atelier wall. But as we&amp;#039;ve learned many times over, in fashion, last-minute plans sometimes yield the best results. This was certainly the case for Parker&amp;#039;s ballerina-pink confection, dubbed &amp;quot;A Tale of Two Minds,&amp;quot; for which Gurung created the satin bustier top, and Theyskens constructed the silk-organza ball skirt. &amp;quot;We got together last night at like seven o&amp;#039;clock,&amp;quot; Parker told us. &amp;quot;I saw it for the first time, and I was like, &amp;#039;Done!&amp;#039; It was Olivier&amp;#039;s idea, and I was totally charmed by it.&amp;quot; The evening&amp;#039;s supporters included Natalie Portman, Drew Barrymore, Martha Stewart, Doutzen Kroes, and Tory Burch. The latter attended in a vintage Yves Saint Laurent gown and revealed that she hasn&amp;#039;t worn it since high school. Parker, the chair of the event, was the mastermind behind pairing the two designers, as well as Iris van Herpen, each with a choreographer to create costumes for opening night. Her hope was to stoke interest in a new audience. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re trying to cultivate the next generation of ballet goers and the combination of Iris, Olivier, and Prabal brings an enormous amount of interest and curiosity,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;Obviously they&amp;#039;re new to this world, they have a point of view that is innovative and even disruptive, and that&amp;#039;s exciting for the choreographers and dancers.&amp;quot; After taking in the arresting show ourselves, we caught up with the night&amp;#039;s designers, who were each able to breathe a sigh of relief post-show. Gurung, who paired up with Justin Peck for the powerful opening number &amp;quot;Capricious Maneuvers,&amp;quot; sent the dancers out in frothy red, white, and black mini dresses, each boasting feather embellishments and leather harnesses. &amp;quot;It was surreal,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;You have a vague idea of what you want it to look like, but it&amp;#039;s even more [rewarding] to be able to fulfill the choreographer&amp;#039;s vision. It was incredible, so gratifying. I&amp;#039;m happy\u2014very happy.&amp;quot; Equally as stirred by watching his vision come to life was Theyskens, who paired up with Angelin Preljocaj for the haunting, &amp;quot;Spectral Evidence,&amp;quot; which was based on the Salem Witch Trials and featured a heart-racing score by John Cage. The women were sent out in nude unitards with red silicone embroidery tracing their limbs and topped with majestic white dresses. &amp;quot;When the show was going on, I got so absorbed by the story of the Salem Witch Trials,&amp;quot; he told us. &amp;quot;I was looking at the dancers as if it were the first day. When we were arriving at the end, I had an experience of just appreciating the show. It was amazing for me.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Neverwhere,&amp;quot; choreographed by Natalie Portman&amp;#039;s husband Benjamin Millepied, featured van Herpen&amp;#039;s avant garde designs, which were so elaborate that NYCB costume director Marc Happel had to work with an architect to build them based off of her sketches. Set to Nico Muhly&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Drones &amp;amp;amp; Viola,&amp;quot; the ballerinas wore curvilinear tutus made of shiny plastic covered tulle and tall black boots sewn over pointe shoes. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a designer that works on intuition and a feeling,&amp;quot; explained van Herpen. &amp;quot;He sent me the music and I started sketching. It was that simple.&amp;quot; See the best dressed stars at the New York City Ballet Fall 2013 Gala.  Photo: Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a17484/new-york-city-ballet-fall-2013-gala/>