BLOCH x Noelle Axalan
The Design Process

BLOCH values the craftsmanship of its products and the process of creating innovative and

creative solutions. In order to best meld the artistic style of the artist, this collaboration involved a deep dive into Noelle Axalan’s brand and her mission as an artist as well as how she fit into BLOCH’s big picture.

Understanding the Artist

As an artist, Noelle Axalan values the ability to communicate her emotive experience through paint. Noelle primarily uses watercolor, believing there is a very free form quality to the medium that does not always flow exactly the way she intends, allowing her to improvise often, a process she relates to her experience as a dancer. Her work is expressive, yet elegant, and she emphasizes the importance of individuality and improvisation.

When asked what platforms she imagines her style could work well with, she mentioned music, believing her work to have a rhythmic quality that mirror the pattern-like progression of a piece of music.

A Platform for Collaboration

Initial discussion lead to the conclusion that Noelle’s work best suited the platform of a dance apparel collaboration. Her past as a dancer provides that she is invested in the industry, her experiences influencing the work she makes as an artist. A review of current trends in dance apparel design also demonstrates that her work would be suited to this collaboration.

In recounting her experience as a dancer, Noelle has noted remembering her wish that she had had more options for dance attire. She was often required to wear black leotards only, and felt that in the context of her casual dance practice, the focus on uniformity was not reflective of the expressive and individualistic nature of ballet as a medium. In pursuing this collaboration, Noelle aims to tap into the opportunity of creating an individualistic and expressive line of apparel unlike the repetitive design she’d seen before.

In terms of which dance apparel brand would best suit her vision, many brands come to mind. The initial exploration phase considered a variety of options, Capezio a well known brand for dance basics, Grishko a high end company known for its intricate leotards, and BLOCH, the leader in ballet dance apparel and the best in product quality.

Designing the Collaboration

After initial research and concepting, a series of rapid iterative designs were created in order to create innovative and effective designs to suit both BLOCH and Noelle’s vision. Initial sketches were created in order to gain a sense of how Noelle’s work could work in the context of BLOCH’s designs, in addition to the creation of a mood board to guide the tone of the collaboration.