BP Beautiful People
The BP Beautiful People program develops collaborations with talented individuals from outside the ballet sector. Providing a diverse range of tips and tricks that range from lifestyle, well-being and nutrition to fashion, beauty, costume design, and more.
Performance arts inspire fashion, and vice versa. This special feature from Ballet Philippines talks about the fundamentals of this year’s biggest style movement: BALLET CORE.
Port de Bras
For decades, we’ve seen how tastemakers of the fashion space emulate the ballerina as figures of grace, femininity, beauty, and elegance. Ethereal gowns showcasing layers of tulle, bodysuits and leotards have long been staples of the well-heeled wardrobe. Ballet flats are enduring fashion essentials, regarded as the stuff of icons. One need only look at quintessential Parisienne looks made immortal by Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot and Mademoiselle Coco Chanel.
As soon as the collections for 2022 were sent down the runways, It seemed that elements of the ballerina life were the prescribed dress code for a post pandemic world. Frontrow regulars opined that this was reflective of a shared desire to reconnect with simple joys, which include watching live performances once again. Because leotards, bodysuits, and ballet flats offer both style and function, they were also deemed as ideal choices when transitioning from a WFH (work from home) life into re-emergence. Heightened awareness for wellness and health also opened up more avenues for athleisure brands to explore other design sensibilities outside of usual spotif stripes and bold logos. This would later see the birth of Balletcore, which proposes that sportswear need not only be confined to sweatpants and frumpy pullovers.
Venezuelan activewear brand, Port de Bras, has been a game changer in the athleisure space. Founded by its Creative Director Clarissa Egana in 2015, the Caracas-born company has been creating decidedly feminine pieces for active lifestyles using only sustainable materials. Ethical production and innovative designs are also part of the Port de Bras DNA.
Decision to name a brand after a classic ballet term, which is “movement of arms,” stems from Clarisa’s vision of “designing garments for a life in movement.” The founder and Latin Designer Awardee of 2022 explains, “I chose Port de Bras because it evokes the timeless elegance of dance, and most of all, because I wanted Port de Bras to be a movement: of values, inspiration, and empowerment.”
The brand is one of the first to offer a more eco-friendly alternative to synthetic polyamides typically used to make the majority of gym clothes. Using the world’s first biodegradable polyamide fiber, Port de Bras showcased the beauty of the female form through design details reminiscent of the picturesque ballerina. One of Egana’s first collections featured sheer panels, bows, ruffles and ruching that add a new dimension to how we show up—for a morning workout, brunch with friends, afternoon cocktails, or a weekend around town. From a purely style point of view, Port de Bras was a venue for wearers to live out their ballerina dreams.
Port de Bras garments were also deemed healthier as they are made using a smart yarn allce Emana. The production team in Venezuela expounds, “It absorbs body heat and emanates far infrared rays back to the skin, helping regulate body temperature and improving blood microcirculation and skin elasticity.” Apart from leggings, unitards, bodysuits and sports bras, the brand also developed other styles that completed a studio to street repertoire. The Port de Bras line has grown to include dresses, swimwear, biker suits, trousers. “We are looking to expand in other areas such as ski, tennis and biking,” discloses Clarissa.
Meanwhile, the Port de Bras community continues to grow and inspire. Celebrity instructors including Tracy Anderson, Melissa Wood, Liana Levi, and Amanda Kloots have been known to wear the brand’s pieces on the daily. More recently, pop star Dua Lipa was also spotted wearing Port de Bras to her yoga class. Exceptional design, soulful production methods, and a generous infusion of good energy factor into the growing success of the brand.
Today, Clarissa and her dedicated team enjoys global presence through partnerships with luxury retail partnerships with Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Carbon38, and Net-A-Porter, just to name a few. The founder, designer and staunch advocate of sustainable fashion ends: “We identify ourselves as a movement, not just a brand. We have a purpose of communicating positive habits.” With soulful brands like Port de Bras championing dance-inspired style movement, it’s without doubt that balletcore will be more than just a fleeting fashion trend.
