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.
Over the past three days you have learned about Brian Friedman , Judanna Lynn , Janie Taylor, Reid Bartelme, Bradon McDonald and Elena Comendador. Here are the next two professional dancers tured fashion designers you need to know.
DAY 4
Lisa Choose
Founder of Elevé Dancewear, Lisa Choules was a dancer before she was a designer and business owner. She spent five years at Ballet West before joining the Kansas City Ballet for nine years. It was here she began designing leotards. She writes on her website, “My quest for great-fitting dancewear began after the birth of my second child… I was back in shape, rehearsing hard and was ready for something new to wear. I’m on the tall side for a dancer (5’8”), with a long torso, and finding a leotard that fit well was challenging. After a very unsuccessful trip to the local dance shop, I decided to try making my own. I was already making cover-ups and skirts, so why not leotards?” Soon thereafter, she began creating costumes for KCB Director William Whitener. Since retiring in 2009, she now runs Elevé while also designing costumes for dance companies all over the world.
Aviad Arik Herman
Israeli artist Aviad Arik Herman is fascinating for many reasons. For one, he speaks five languages. But that’s just one of his talents. Having danced with KAMEA Contemporary Dance Company, the Gothenburg Opera Ballet, Labyrinth Dance Theatre, American Pacific Ballet Company and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, this dancer also revealed another medium he’s fond of – fashion. He branched out into fashion design, studying at the Art College in Gothenburg, Sweden. Now, Herman has created costumes for Cullberg Ballet, the Gothenburg Opera Ballet the Swedish National Ballet School and BalletX.
Make sure you check back in tomorrow for our final blog post on Professional Dancers You Didn’t Know Became Fashion Designers !
Guest Contributor: Chelsea Thomas of Dance Informa