The creatives toasted a new volume of images featuring the San Francisco Ballet in costumes created by Hearst
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography by RYAN DANIEL NORTHROP, PR usage provided by GABRIELA HEARST
Gabriela Hearst and photographer Nikolai von Bismarck hosted a cocktail party at the designer’s Beverly Hills boutique on Thursday, January 8, to celebrate a limited-edition book of prints, Dos Mujeres, documenting the San Francisco Ballet’s reimagined production of Carmen. The Uruguayan designer took on the project of creating costumes crafted from thin, high-performance, body-accentuating merino wool for the cast, collaborating with artistic director Tamara Rojo and choreographer Arielle Smith on the ballet premiering in 2024. Guests got a first look at von Bismarck’s images capturing the three women’s vision through still shots of the company dancers printed in the new volume with covers mimicking the hues chosen for the performance attire: black/red, red/black, and yellow/black.
On hand to flip through the frameable prints were Demi Moore, Marisa Tomei, Dolores Fonzi, Maria Sharapova, Lauren Wasser, Beck, Clara Cullen, Rhys Coiro, Jane Levy, Sam Fragoso, Cory Richards, Roda Ahmed, and Monica Grossman. They spoke with von Bismarck about shooting the project and with Hearst about the fabrics selected for the dancers. After the ballet’s premiere, Hearst posted her thoughts on the project: “But what was the most soul-enriching experience is getting to work with these super athletes that are the dancers. Arguably one of the most demanding art forms. They use their entire bodies as the vessel for the source, for art, for us to be touched, moved and reconnected to what makes us humans.” The show itself ran as part of Dos Mujeres, a double bill of pieces by Latina choreographers (and the inspiration for the book’s title), and von Bismarck’s photographs showed the bell-shaped sleeves and pants and the flexibility of the sustainable textiles Hearst devised to costume the cast. In her post from San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Hearst also included a nod to the lensman: “While not Latin, Nikolai von Bismarck brought his soulful gorgeous photography to this collective effort.” His work, on display in Beverly Hills, documented the collaboration and captured the dancer’s movements and the power of the performance.
January 17, 2026
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