Here's a Q&A from the Orlando Sentinel discussing Sasha Cohen's penchant for designing her own skating outfits (anyone remember the fiery Carmen outfit from the 2002 Olympics to the left? All her).
The article got me thinking about the days when you would hear about high fashion designers like Vera Wang and Mark Bower designing skating outfits. I don't hear that as much anymore. Does it follow that, as the more mainstream fans have left the sport, so have the more mainstream designers? Or am I just missing some great examples from the past few years?
On that note, here's an interesting article from the New York Times from last year about Del Arbour, a designer who made her name in figure skating:
Ms. Arbour is one of a handful of designers in the United States making custom figure-skating outfits for men and women. From her workroom — in a low-slung concrete building on an industrial strip just off Interstate 95 — she creates costumes for hundreds of skaters each year, with prices starting at $395 and climbing to $2,000 or more. She also produces a wholesale collection that is carried by dozens of retailers, and she operates a Web site for direct sales.
While skaters at Ms. Meissner’s level often have their own celebrity couturiers — remember Vera Wang’s glittering gold dress for Michelle Kwan at the 2002 Olympics? — most local and regional competitors have a Del Arbour creation in their closets. "All the skaters I know own at least one Del dress," said Chris Bartlett, owner of Skaters Landing, a chain of retail shops based in North Haven. "Del has a great sense of color and a great eye for fit."