#Bossmama Spotlight: Ballerina turned dancewear business owner

Meet Felicia Palanca, fierce mama of two from Melbourne, and the founder and key creative force behind stunning children’s ballet brand, Flo Dancewear (and its sister brand for tweens, Flo Active).

And Felicia’s story reads like a beautiful fairy-tale. Once upon a time long ago, a tiny three-year-old girl started ballet classes. All she had ever wanted to do was dance. From four to 14, she expanded on ballet, incorporating jazz, contemporary, tap, hip hop, gymnastics into her repertoire – but classical and contemporary ballet remained her firm favourites.

A hop, skip and a twirl later, Felicia’s dream was realised when she became senior artist with The Australian Ballet and danced lead roles including Kitri in Don Quixote in Shanghai, Swanhilda in Coppélia, and Clara in The Nutcracker.

“It was the time spent in the costume department at The Australian Ballet that ignited my love of fashion,” reveals Felicia.

“I was able to witness all parts of the costume design process from sewing to pattern making to final production.”

Having designed for a large international dancewear company towards the end of her ballet career, it was a few years after retiring from dance that Flo Dancewear was born.

Offering a beautiful collection of high-quality, super soft, wearable and durable fabrics that little ballerinas love to wear, Flo Dancewear creates all the ballet essentials for girls aged three to seven, including ballet shoes, tights, dresses, skirts and wraps.

“In 2015 I added Flo Active to my stable, which I feel was a natural progression from Flo Dancewear,” Felicia says.

Flo Active is an activewear collection with a dance twist designed for the tween girl market, ages eight to 14.

“For Flo, I source great fabrics and designs specifically for this age group that are bright and colourful but stretchy, super soft and feel great to wear,” Felicia adds.