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What began as an effort to save a few precious bucks became a career option for a mother, far removed as she was from the world of glitter, sequins, twirls and pirouettes!
When the time came for her to invest in some skating costumes for her five-year old daughter, Gail Johnson realized how time consuming and how expensive the whole exercise was – back and forth trips for fittings and letting outs, matching sequins and baubles with fabric etc. It began to tie her more closely with the sport and its culture. She felt that the whole costume thing was a rip-off on most parents.
That was nearly 30 years ago!
Today, Johnson is sitting in the midst of chiffons, lace, beads, binders and rhinestones and immensely enjoying the creativity of her journey. Illuminescent Design, the company she founded, has been producing hundreds of hand-sewn, custom-designed masterpiece costumes every year for skaters from all over. And all this from within a cluttered corner of her home, not a swanky retail outlet on an up-market street.
She achieved her first professional breakthrough when the costumes she designed for Gracie Gold, a top figure skater in Team USA. Johnson’s dresses had been the first choice for Gold and her family when purchasing skating costumes but it was only when Gold won the silver at 2012 Junior World championships that her dresses began to gain media and public attention. Other topnotch designers from the world of fashion vied with each other to get Gold to fit into their dresses but the skater’s vision and fit were not given priority. When Gold herself came to Johnson with a request to find something that would fit as well as help her keep her balance unlike the heavily layered and stone crusted designs of the “designers”, Johnson lent a helping hand by giving her two custom-fit dresses for her skating events. Since then, there has been virtually no looking back.
One of Johnson’s costumes was voted the ‘best look of the 2014’ season and a picture of Gold wearing it found its way to the covers of People Magazine and Sports Illustrated with due credit to Gail Johnson. The feeling was absolute euphoria.
However, when Gold changed her coach mid-way through an Olympic season, everything changed. The new coach didn’t find time for her old routine, music or favorite dress. But by then, Johnson’s designs had gained enough word-of-mouth publicity and soon she had a list of clients with requests that soon took up all her time and the fabric she had. Nothing could please her more.
Today, Gail Johnson is still in the big league designing skating costumes for Croatian, Lithuanian, Philippine and Swedish ice dance teams. International coaches vouch for the fit of Johnson’s costumes for their teams as they never cause any problems like fidgeting with a sleeve or hem. “When the dress isn’t comfortable, the focus shifts from the event” is what Paige Rydberg, four-time National and International Champion for the USA Team says.
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Source by Aman Tumukur Khanna
