Episode 41: Leah Kate Nicoll - Fashionable Yet Functional
While at the University of Alabama, Leah Kate got a lot of experience with leotards, both as a dancer and as part of the costume department. What she found was that rarely did they properly fit all women’s body types. Knowing that one of the first rules of dancewear is that it should enhance movement, not burden it, she set out to create styles that were functional, comfortable, and fashionable. Within her first eight months, she was featured at two sold out shows at New York Fashion Week.
Leah’s passion for design was ignited when she was nine years old and involved in a local hip hop dance theater. She realized that one of the ways she and the other dancers expressed themselves was through what they wore, so she started drawing designs for leotards in her notebooks. “I was probably designing five or six a week or something like that. And I had no ability to make them yet, but I definitely had vision.” It was her senior year of high school, when started to develop her skills: working with steel boning and patterning, she created a beautiful stretch corset.
Leah realized that regular flat patterns didn’t work for a dancer with her build: long torso, athletic build, full bust measurement. She fully developed the skills to make clothes in college, but it wasn’t until after she graduated and inherited a 50-year-old Serger that she was able to develop a prototype. Soon after, she purchased a BERNINA L 890 with air-threading capabilities. At that point, she had the resources she needed to launch her company. [2:00-22:00)
And wow, what a launch it was! Leah Kate shares her experience of receiving the call to help choreograph a dance fashion show for EDM artists in collaboration with fashion designer Hicham Bens of The Royals Paris (personal designer for the Moroccan Royal Family). About halfway through the process, DRUMAGDN – one of the EDM artists - asked her if she wanted to launch Leahtards. As if that wasn’t exciting enough—Leahtards opened the show. She choreographed, performed, and launched her brand at New York Fashion Week. She also shares some of the highlights of her illustrious dancing career. A video of the Fashion Show Week performances is currently in the works, as the momentum of Leah Kate’s success keeps building. Leah Kate’s mission is to provide dancewear and costumers that make dancers feel good about walking out onto the stage for rehearsal or performing in her own words. “I want to be a refuge for my dancers, and my customers so that they feel like themselves, they feel that they've expressed themselves fully, and they're not judging themselves, and therefore, they really don't care if anybody else is.” [24:19-51:56]
To say that Leah Kate is an entrepreneurial powerhouse would be an understatement. As she details her experiences, the energy builds and her passion and enthusiasm are palpable. Be sure to tune in to listen to this amazing success story. You can connect with her by going to her website, Leahtards.com or by emailing her at LeahKateNickel.com
If you know someone who has an outstanding story that should be shared on this podcast, or you have a comment about any of our episodes, drop Meg a note at info@sewandsopodcast.com or complete the form on our website.
Be sure to subscribe to, rate and review this podcast too!