Renowned fashion designer and Executive Vice President & Creative Director, Gap Inc. uses San Francisco as inspiration for costumes debuting this February
Within the Golden Hour is accompanied by North American premiere of Akram Khan’s Dust and Wayne McGregor’s Chroma as part of Cool Britannia mixed bill
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) January 16, 2025—San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet) today announced that fashion designer and Executive Vice President & Creative Director, Gap Inc. Zac Posen has designed new costumes for Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, creating a fresh visual identity for a work returning to SF Ballet’s repertoire this February. Posen’s designs reflect Gap Inc.’s dedication to uplifting local San Francisco creativity and SF Ballet’s expanded commitment to cross-disciplinary collaborations as well as its role as an ambassador for the city of San Francisco.
Drawing on Wheeldon’s original inspiration from Gustav Klimt’s shimmering paintings while evoking the meeting of water and sky in the San Francisco landscape, Posen’s costumes use ombre dying techniques to mimic the shifting color palette of golden hour, with tailoring designed to emphasize movement and the romance of contemporary ballet. The designer recently arrived in San Francisco following his appointment to Gap Inc. in February 2024.
“Zac Posen’s designs bring gorgeous new vision to Christopher Wheeldon’s work which was created for San Francisco Ballet in 2008—a fitting project to welcome our new resident of San Francisco,” said SF Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. “This collaboration is a testament to the strength of the city’s creative sector, and it is an honor for San Francisco Ballet to partner with a leading designer and brand with an excitement for and investment in dance.”
“I was delighted by the opportunity to partner with San Francisco Ballet to design new costumes for Within the Golden Hour,” said Posen. “When we first began this collaboration, I was new to San Francisco and had just started my role at Gap Inc. The city has an incredible arts scene, and as a lover of dance and ballet, it was important to me to shine a spotlight on the arts and this incredible company through my designs.”
Posen’s designs mark a continuation of SF Ballet’s recent collaborations with leading fashion designers and continued creative partnerships across disciplines, efforts spearheaded by Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. In 2024, Rojo commissioned sustainable luxury fashion designer Gabriela Hearst to create costumes for the world premiere of Arielle Smith’s Carmen, and brought haute couture designer Christian LaCroix’s resplendent costumes for A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the U.S. for the first time. Additionally, SF Ballet’s Cool Britannia program, which includes Within the Golden Hour, will feature a large-scale commissioned curtain drop from Bay Area-based artist Ranu Mukherjee as part of an annual partnership with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Debuting at the War Memorial Opera House on February 13, Cool Britannia is a mixed bill spotlighting the innovative new British voices in ballet that emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour as well as Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and the North American premiere of Akram Khan’s Dust. Within the Golden Hour creates intricate, shifting lattice choreography between ensembles that reflect on the beauty of movement. With the return of Within the Golden Hour in the 2025 season, SF Ballet celebrates the 25th anniversary of Wheeldon’s first commission for the company, Sea Pictures, which debuted in 2000.
About San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is a leading ballet company and trailblazer in dance locally, nationally, and internationally. Performing, commissioning, and collaborating with exceptional artists in dance and across disciplines, SF Ballet balances an innovative focus on new and contemporary choreography with a deeply held dedication to the classics. SF Ballet is a catalyst for the future of ballet by cultivating creativity, bringing dance of the highest caliber to a wide audience, and providing exceptional training opportunities for the next generation of professional dancers in its world-renowned School.
Since its founding in 1933 as the first professional ballet company in the United States, San Francisco Ballet has been an innovator in the art form and an originator of beloved cultural traditions, from staging the first American production of Swan Lake to bringing an annual holiday Nutcracker to U.S. audiences.
About Gap Inc.
Gap Inc., a house of iconic brands, is the largest specialty apparel company in America. Its Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands offer clothing, accessories, and lifestyle products for men, women and children. Since 1969, Gap Inc. has created products and experiences that shape culture, while doing right by employees, communities and the planet. Gap Inc. products are available worldwide through company-operated stores, franchise stores, and e-commerce sites. Fiscal year 2023 net sales were $14.9 billion. For more information, please visit www.gapinc.com.
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