Balini Active Sportswear

This is the story of BaliniSports.

My yoga teacher and I first started based off of a passion for Bikram yoga and in need of a cute yoga bra that would support even a D cup because most yoga bras fit better for smaller chests, but there was still a need for a premium bra made with full chests in mind. At first, we were buying from Brazil. My yoga teacher then moved to Brazil to watch over the production and in 2 months, she met the love of her life and gave me the business. I didn’t speak Portuguese, I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was afraid to fail. At the time, I knew very little about the textile industry, one of the most fascinating and complicated industries and I had no idea that there are millions of combinations for designers to play with.

Remember the saying, everything happens for a reason?

After intense research and visiting many factories, I had trouble finding the quality of products and the eco-friendly manufacturing process that I wanted to represent BaliniSports. The fate of BaliniSports was decided during a trip to Bali when I met the Vice President of INVITSA™ and that’s why I named my company Balini. Gary, the Vice President of INVISTA™, not only introduced me to the most professional manufacturing team in yoga apparel, he also stood by me during my first meeting with the team. I had no clue how big they were and the caliber of the companies they typically work with. Every jaw in that conference room was dropped after my initial pitch because they couldn’t believe a small designer would have the courage to meet with them. In the end, it was my passion, my honesty and my love for the environment that finally convinced the factory to take me under their wing.

Our current factory’s Vice President Kevin, gave me a tour of their office buildings in Taiwan where they have millions of fabric samples, not to mention 50 professional pattern makers. I was like a kid at Disney World! They gave me an introduction of every department in the building. I was in awe! Their show rooms had last season’s designs for Stella McCartney, Under Armour, Prana, Athleta and many other fitness apparel powerhouses. Some companies like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon had their own sample rooms that they couldn’t even show me!

I realized that manifesting my dream would no longer be a challenge, but knowing what I wanted and needed was now the biggest obstacle to getting BaliniSports off the ground. There were simply too many choices, so they decided to put me through training. For 9 months, I was taught about designs, fabrics, colors, fitting, cutting, sewing and all the details needed to create a premium yoga apparel line. It could take a lifetime to understand the textile industry entirely; however, the rigorous training I went through in Taiwan helped me understand exactly what I wanted for Balini.