10 Professional Dancers You Didn’t Know Became Fashion Designers
As every dancer knows, it’s all in the details. From the way you hold your head, to the way you point (or don’t point) your toes, each movement and muscle choice is intentional. Your training has been centered on small stylistic elements for years.
So who better to transition into the fashion world, an environment driven by the details, than a professional dancer?
Dance studio owners, teachers and directors know all too well what goes into creating and executing a showstopping recital or performance, which is much like a runway show when the designer puts his or her work on stage for all to enjoy. Whether directing dance shows, or performing in them, dancers know what makes an audience pay attention.
Likewise, both fashion and dance involve an artistic vision and an urge to create and express. So is it really surprising that many dancers also become fashion designers? Once an artist, always an artist.
For these dancers, their artistic nature led them to begin creating clothes and costumes. While they once expressed themselves through pirouettes and leaps, they each express their own creativity now through fabrics, colors, textures and designs.
Kicking off the week with a focus on 10 professional dancers turned fashion designers!
DAY 1
Brian Friedman
The Pulse On Tour’s Creative Director Brian Friedman decided to stop just dreaming about fashion and to make it his reality in 2012. The outcome was his full apparel line called Brian Says B Free (a.k.a. BSBF). “I teamed up with Marina Toybina, a fashion stylist and costume designer, and with her help created the BSBF Signature Collection,” he says. “It was birthed out of my love for fashion and wanting to share my ideas with the world.” The renowned commercial dancer and choreographer says he definitely thinks his dance background heightened his understanding of design. “I know what dancers need to be able to move in their clothes,” he explains. “You want your pieces to have stretch in the right direction, as well as to hang a certain way.” Check out his apparel at http://bsbf.com.
Judanna Lynn
Formerly a dancer with San Francisco Opera Ballet, Judanna Lynn is now an in-demand costume designer. She has been the resident costume designer at The Juilliard School and has designed costumes for most of the major dance companies in the United States, including San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet West, BalletMet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and many more. She’s also a painter whose work has been seen at galleries in New York City.
*Judanna Lynn, right, fits Ballet Austin dancer Preston Patterson for a new costume for The Nutcracker in 2013 alongside costume builder Valerie Gruner and wardrobe master Alexey Korygin. Photo by Jay Janner, via myState
Stay tuned tomorrow for two more amazing dancers turned fashion designers.
Guest Contributor: Chelsea Thomas of Dance Informa
