Sara Mearns Shares Design Details on Her Collaboration With Só Dança
It makes perfect sense that Só Dança would team up with New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns for a brand new collection—after all, she spends most of her day in a leotard and tights. “I love the materials and quality of Só Dança’s products, so when they asked if I was interested in designing my own, I immediately said ‘yes’,” Mearns says.
Between her performances at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with NYCB and rehearsals for Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes, Mearns is spending her downtime researching materials and designing leotards and warm-ups. “The hardest part is narrowing down what is necessary—what’s just fashionable and what’s truly needed,” she says. “I am going for durability, performing enhancement and warmth over fashion right now. I of course want the product to look good, but that’s not my main objective with these particular warm-up designs,” she says.
Her first challenge? The perfect pair of leg warmers. “My inspiration came from something I bought in Japan 12 years ago and its always been in the back of my head that I would one day create my design,” she says. “I haven’t seen a product like this ever, and that’s what really excites me. I don’t want to give it away until it comes out, but I knew I wanted to include this certain material element—let’s just say, they are like puffy coats for your calves!”
As for the rest of Mearns’ collection, she’s been blending input from her fellow dancers with her own personal taste. “I have to say, I sort of stick to the same style. When I have six to eight leotards that I love, I usually just keep rotating those,” she explains, noting her style is more clean cut and classic.
Above: Mearns in a video for The New York Times, rehearsing in Só Dança.
“It’s all about keeping dancers at their best.” Mearns says. “It’s been a dream of mine for years to bring products to the dance world that enhance our performance.”
While there’s no official launch date for Mearns’ collection just yet, we have a feeling it will be worth the wait!
