New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck Partners With Stateside
Tiler Peck, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, is partnering with Los Angeles-based sportswear company Stateside to produce a capsule apparel collection.
The capsule will be available on Shopstateside.us starting Dec. 1 and will also be sold at Stateside’s retail accounts such as Anthropologie and The Red Balloon.
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Peck, who makes dance wear with Body Wrappers through Tiler Peck Designs, said she always wanted to design more. “I wanted to get into dance leisure. I wanted to do looks that I could wear in the studio and also wear in the street,” the 32-year-old dancer said during a rehearsal break.
Peck, who hails from California, was interested in Stateside, which manufactures all its collections in Los Angeles. “I really liked their products and always thought their fabrics were really soft,” she said. “They were aware of me from social media and my dancing. When we first met, I thought it was going to be a kind of get to know you, but it ended up being, ‘When can we make this happen?'”
They began working on the collaboration last March.
“I’m a huge fan of Tiler and New York City Ballet. I kind of geek out a little bit,” said Jessica Baukol, president of Stateside. “It seemed like a great partnership. She’s a California girl and she’s looking to create her own brand and she’s dipping her toe in the water in terms of clothing production. We feel extremely lucky to be a part of that.”
For the introduction, Peck has designed a four-piece capsule collection, consisting of a Softest Fleece (micro modal, cotton and spandex) sweat pant, a short-raglan sleeve sweatshirt, a short romper and a twist top in a 2×1 rib of Supima cotton, micro modal and spandex). Prices range from $90 to $128.
SALOMON EMQUIES
“As dancers, we always come in with our leotards on and sweats. It’s a drawstring sweat and cut-off sweatshirt, short-sleeved. I’ve already been traveling around with it, and the first day I wore it, everyone was, like, ‘Where is that outfit from?’ I was, like, ‘It’s not out yet.'” She said the color range includes rouge, infinity (light blue), heather gray, powder and black. The label says Tiler Peck [Heart] Stateside.
The romper has a drawstring and the top is like a bralette, she said. “It’s like an old-school ballet top. It’s three-quarters and ties in the front, with regular fabric and knotted inside. You don’t tie it, and it’s knotted and twists in the front,” Peck said.
SALOMON EMQUIES
They plan to add more items in the next capsule.
Peck believes the capsule will attract people beyond the world of dance. “It’s geared more to the general population, for sure. It has inspiration of a ballet-inspired thing behind it,” she said. Sizes range from extra small to large. They hope to make it into a unisex collection.
Peck said she’d love to design more categories. “I’ve always been fascinated with fashion — the movement of the clothes and the movement of dance. I love making things that feel but also look good,” said Peck, who was diagnosed in 2019 with a severe herniated disc in her neck from which she has since recovered.
Peck explained that the first time she and Stateside worked together, they brought a binder of all of their fabrics and the swatches. “I would say, ‘This is the kind of palette I like.’ They said this is the color we have now, but for you, we want to make new colors.” She said she also went to the factory in Los Angeles.
Peck said she follows fashion carefully and has close friends in the business. She met Valentino Garavani through the New York City Ballet’s 2012 fashion gala, they became very friendly and have frequently traveled together. She also met Gilles Mendel through the annual event.
“He [Valentino] has taught me, along the way, what to look for. Typically when I’m around the house, I’d be in sweats. I love to get dressed up when I go out. I wear mostly Valentino. I also love J.Mendel. Their dresses always feel very feminine and ballerina-esque. Their sample size fits like it was made on me. Normally, when I go out, it’s the two of them,” Peck said.
She said her schedule has started to become packed again with commitments. “I can’t complain. I don’t think I have a break until March,” she said. She is currently in rehearsals and the fall New York City Ballet season starts at the end of September. She is also performing for Twyla Tharp’s 80th birthday celebration at City Center on Nov. 3, and is doing a City Center performance at the Fall for Dance Festival.
During the pandemic, Peck kept busy. “I created a bunch of projects that were so fulfilling. It was difficult because everybody was uncertain, but I also found a lot of healing in the things that I did with my ‘Turn It Out With Tiler’ classes by giving people an hour a day to move and to dance,” she said. She also hired 10 artists and put on a show and streamed it and was fortunate to get William Forsythe to create a 20-minute ballet called “The Barre Project.” “It was like, ‘Bill, we never get time where our schedules are lined up, so let’s do it now.'”
As reported, Peck’s recent assignment involved choreographing, directing and performing in “Dancing Into Forever,” a short film for the bridal house Justin Alexander. The video showcased Peck and her dancing partner Roman Mejia’s artistry and the brand’s latest wedding gowns.
Peck appears eager to become more involved in the fashion world.
“I love when New York Fashion Week is there. I love learning about things. I think that athletic wear and dance wear are very similar. There should be more of a bridge there. That’s what I try to do since we wear a lot of the same things. People are wearing bodysuits all the time to go out now. It’s like the fashion statement. That’s basically like the leotard. I try to make my leotard something I can wear outside,” Peck said.
FOR MORE STORIES:
Tiler Peck Talks Bridal Film, Vacationing With Valentino and Post-pandemic Plans
New York City Ballet Celebrates Fall Fashion Gala With Sarah Jessica Parker
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