Karinska

Varvara Zhmoudsky, known as Karinska (1886–1983), was born in Kharkov in the Russian Empire. She ran a fashion and embroidery workshop in Moscow, then emigrated after 1924, working in Paris for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, including Balanchine’s Cotillon.

In New York she became Balanchine’s principal costumier, collaborating on more than seventy ballets from Bourrée Fantasque (1949) to Vienna Waltzes (1977). Together they developed the American tutu that became an international standard. Divertimento No. 15 in Living Legacies uses her costumes.