Have you ever wondered what's the story behind Basilica Dancewear? And what makes Basilica Dancewear so different from other dancewear brands? We want to take you with us on our journey. Come with us and discover why our name is Basilica Dancewear and why we want to make you feel like a #barreroyalty!
The very beginning
Did you know that Basilica Dancewear is originally from Greece? Before Basilica Dancewear was founded, we started in Greece as Plié Dancestores in 1999. Founder Lena Loupos is a ballet teacher, with over 35 years of experience. She noticed that there was a lack of good, high quality products on the dancewear market in Greece and decided to introduce these products in Greece herself. Plié Dancestores still exists and you can visit the store in the capital of Greece, Athens.
In 2003 Lena’s son Anthony took over the management of the company and opened a second store and an online shop. This was the moment when Plié Dancestores started with a small production of basic leotards in high quality fabrics. At this time fashion and dancewear started to come together and Plié Dancestores was one of the first dance shops that started to introduce leotards that were more fashionable. This was the moment when Anthony and his wife Sofia (who is also a dance teacher and the head of design), decided to introduce Basilica Dancewear.
A new brand was born
At this moment the brand was named Taglia Basilica, which might still sound familiar to you if you already know our brand for longer. In the years that followed Taglia Basilica got more attention and interest from other dancewear shops in Europe. In 2015 Anthony and Sofia decided to take the next step by moving Taglia Basilica to the United Kingdom, where most of the biggest dancewear brands have their European headquarters.
What does Basilica mean?
Our mission is to create the most beautiful dancewear with the highest quality possible. We think it’s important that you feel both comfortable and fashionable when wearing our dancewear. Did you know that ‘Basilica’ means ‘Royal’ in English? And that’s exactly how we want to make you feel in our dancewear; like a Royalty.
This is also why we introduced the hashtag #barreroyalty. Our aim is to make you feel beautiful and unique in our dancewear. Do you feel like sharing your photos in Basilica Dancewear? Please tag us in your photo and use #barreroyalty, we always love to see dancers wearing our dancewear!
What makes Basilica Dancewear different from other brands?
We are different from any other brand on the market because we use a different, thicker fabric called ‘Tactel’. This fabric feels supportive and comfortable while dancing, but it also looks very flattering. This in combination with the unique designs and the ‘Royal touch’, makes us stand out.
Did you know that Anthony’s wife, Sofia Zarmalia is the head of design of our dancewear? She thinks it’s important that our dancewear looks both classy and unique, but it’s also practical and durable. All of this comes together in Basilica Dancewear.
From Taglia Basilica to Basilica Dancewear
In 2017 we decided to change the name of our dancewear from Taglia Basilica to Basilica Dancewear. As we are aiming to become a worldwide major dancewear brand, we felt the importance of keeping the name more simple and easy to pronounce. Basilica Dancewear is covering all of this.
With becoming a major dancewear brand, we are planning to design and develop much more than just leotards. We are expanding our collection with all the dancewear you need, such as ballet shoes, tights, accessories, warm-up clothes and much more. Would you like to stay up-to-date about the launch of new products and the stories behind the brand? Make sure you’re following us on Instagram and like us on Facebook!
