Making the leap across international borders to bring a business to customers in a new country can be an exciting, yet slightly scary, endeavor. That’s especially been the case this year, with rising tariffs and geopolitical and economic tensions creating obstacles for businesses big and small. Still, that isn’t deterring some dancewear manufacturers from attempting to expand their businesses in the U.S. market.
Taecho from South Korea, Energetiks from Australia, and Daroch from Mexico are three such brands. Here’s what they bring to the table.
Taecho: Korean Dancewear That Feels Like a Second Skin
As a ballet dancer, Jina Kim says she often found the compression in most leotard fabrics difficult to breathe in. That’s why, in 2023, she decided to launch Taecho, a brand specializing in leotards made from comfortable materials that effortlessly mold to the body.
Taecho’s leotards come in two product lines: Second Skin, for dancers who want to feel like they’re wearing nothing at all, and Third Skin, for those who want fuller coverage and support. The brand also offers a Flow line of skirts and mesh pants (“designed to move as light and fluid as flowing water,” as Kim wrote over email) as well as coverups and casual wear. And although Taecho is a relatively new addition to the dancewear market, its merchandise is already gaining a following overseas.
“Over 80 percent of our online store’s global sales come from U.S. consumers, mainly in New York and L.A.,” Kim writes in an email to Dance Retailer News. “The data alone tells us that our design sensibility and brand story are really resonating with people in the U.S.”
Challenges to bringing this burgeoning business to more vendors in the U.S. have included communicating over a considerable time difference (Seoul is 13 hours ahead of New York City and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles during daylight saving time); navigating the U.S.’s shifting tariff policies; and increasing visibility in an already crowded dance-apparel industry.
Still, Kim believes the time is ripe for such expansion. Taecho is hoping to collaborate on more in-person events with U.S. retailers, including joint promotions, trunk shows, and pop-up events.
“This year and beyond, our biggest goal is to find buyers who will grow alongside us and get our products into stores,” Kim says. “In the long term, we’re also aiming to open a physical store in the U.S.”
Energetiks: An Australian Brand That’s a One-Stop Shop
Founded in 1988 by three young women—including sisters and current CEOs Gail Gardiner and Lynda Chapman—Australian dance brand Energetiks started out as a small storefront in Melbourne. Now, it’s stocked by 150 dance retailers in Australia alone, as well as in countries such as New Zealand, Singapore, and Japan. The company’s Absorb+ Dance Brief period wear was a major turning point, with dance shops creating Energetiks accounts just to get that product on their shelves. Today, Energetiks is designed to be a one-stop shop for a range of dance styles, with everything from dancewear and shoes to uniform lines, hair accessories, bags, hosiery, undergarments, and more. The brand also offers customization, including colors and logo options, along with print services.
Energetiks’ products are about 80 percent Australian-made and sustainably constructed from recycled materials and eco-friendly dyes. According to Amy Jacobs, Energetiks’ customer relations manager, this aspect of the brand really clicks with consumers.
“You’re not just buying products you can feel good wearing, you’re buying products that you can feel good about buying,” Jacobs tells Dance Retailer News. “That combination of things that are made incredibly well and ethically, it really just shifts the way that people feel about products.”
The brand first debuted in the U.S. just over six years ago and is currently sold in 368 U.S. retail stores—a number that Energetiks is keen to expand.
“We started as one single independent dance store, and we have never forgotten the challenges that brick-and-mortar businesses face,” Jacobs says. “As opposed to companies that might be more focused on an online model or more focused on prioritizing their own stores, we are very passionate about partnering with all these beautiful independent businesses.”
Daroch Dance: Colorful Convention Dancewear Designed in Mexico
Founded in 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico, Daroch Dance is the brainchild of Andy García, a former dancer and dance teacher, and Yvonne Chavez, a self-proclaimed “dance mom.” As convention culture became increasingly popular in Mexico, García and Chavez noticed that domestic dance shops were mostly limited to basic black and pink ballet leotards, meaning shoppers had to look outside of Mexico for the perfect convention outfit. The pair set out to fill that void with a convention-friendly dancewear brand focused on colorful two-piece sets, tops, shorts, ballroom skirts, and hip-hop pants that can be mixed and matched to create unique looks.
During the COVID pandemic, Daroch Dance began to grow its online and social media presence, helping the brand gain traction outside of Mexico. Since then, Daroch Dance has sold to more than 50 U.S. retail stores, and plans to build on that momentum this year and beyond.
“We’re happy with what we have achieved in our country, so we’ve started looking to more outside markets, and have found out that they love our products,” García tells Dance Retailer News. “So I feel we’re ready to expand a little more to international dancers.”
Keeping up to speed on ever-changing customs requirements and paperwork, Chavez says, has been the toughest hurdle to getting a stronger foothold in the U.S. market. But García says spotting photos and videos of their products being worn by dancers from around the world has made the effort worthwhile.
“It always gets us excited, like it did in the first days of the brand,” García says of seeing Daroch outfits in the wild. “Watching dancers shine in our outfits is the best feeling ever.”
Rebecca Corey is a writer based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Pointe, Dance Teacher, Yahoo News, Yahoo Life, and CNN.