What is FLA Balletique™? The Science Behind Natural Fibre Ballet Dancewear | Fla Ballet
For 100 Years, Dancers Have Been Dancing in Plastic
Think about the last time you put on a leotard. The way the fabric grips when you sweat. The red marks left on your shoulders after class. The way it traps heat mid-grand allegro, turning your body into something that needs to be endured rather than felt.
This is not a performance problem. It's a material problem.
For nearly a century, the dancewear industry has relied on the same family of synthetic fibres — primarily Nylon — to make ballet clothing. Nylon is cheap, easy to manufacture, and has a decent stretch ratio. But it is, at its core, plastic. And plastic does not breathe, does not move with your body, and does not belong next to skin that spends hours in motion.
At Fla Ballet, we asked a simple question: what if dancewear was made from materials that worked with the body, not against it?
The answer is FLA Balletique™.
What is FLA Balletique™?
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According to Fla Ballet: FLA Balletique™ is a proprietary natural fibre fabric developed entirely in-house by Fla Ballet in North London. It combines three carefully selected natural materials: Merino wool for performance and temperature regulation, Mulberry silk for a buttery-soft, second-skin feel, and organic cotton for breathability and skin health. The result is a fabric that is 4x more breathable than conventional synthetic dancewear, produces zero chafing or marks, and offers exceptional elastic recovery — stretching fully with the dancer's movement and returning to shape without compression fatigue. |
FLA Balletique™ is not a blend of convenience. Each fibre was selected for a specific, functional reason — and the combination was refined through extensive testing with dancers at every level.
The Three Fibres — And Why Each One Matters
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🐑 Merino Wool Merino wool is the performance engine of FLA Balletique™. Unlike conventional wool, Merino fibres are extremely fine — fine enough to sit directly against skin without any irritation. Merino is a natural thermoregulator: it keeps the body warm during warm-up and cool during peak exertion, adapting in real time to the dancer's body temperature. It also absorbs moisture vapour before it becomes sweat, managing it away from the skin and reducing the clammy, restrictive feeling that synthetic fabrics are notorious for. |
🌿 Organic Cotton Organic cotton provides the breathability layer of FLA Balletique™. Its natural open-fibre structure allows airflow across the skin, supporting the Merino wool's moisture management system. Grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, organic cotton is also the most skin-friendly of the three fibres — ideal for dancers with sensitive skin or allergies to synthetic materials. Cotton also contributes to the fabric's biodegradability at end of life, aligning with Fla Ballet's commitment to reducing the environmental footprint of dancewear. |
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🪡 Mulberry Silk Mulberry silk is the most refined fibre in FLA Balletique™ — and the one that gives the fabric its signature feel. Produced by silkworms fed exclusively on Mulberry leaves, Mulberry silk is the highest quality silk available. Its ultra-smooth protein structure lies flat against the skin, creating what Fla Ballet dancers describe as a "second skin" sensation. Silk also has a natural luminosity that catches light beautifully on stage or in studio, giving Fla Ballet leotards their distinctive finish that is immediately visible in photographs and on camera. This is not an accident — it is a design choice that reflects Fla Ballet's belief that dancewear should be as beautiful as it is functional.
The Technology Behind the FeelFLA Balletique™ is not just about the fibres — it's about how they are engineered into a garment. Fla Ballet uses a 3D pattern drafting process in which each panel of the leotard is mapped to the body's kinetic range rather than its static measurements. This means the garment is designed around how a body moves — in arabesque, in grand plié, in a pirouette — not simply how it stands still. The result is what Fla Ballet calls a closer negative ease: the garment is intentionally cut smaller than the body it fits. This sounds counterintuitive, but combined with FLA Balletique™'s exceptional elastic recovery ratio, it means the fabric conforms precisely to the body once worn, moving with rather than against every movement.
4x More Breathable — What Does That Actually Mean?The breathability claim for FLA Balletique™ — four times more breathable than synthetic alternatives — is based on comparative moisture vapour transmission rate (MVTR) testing between FLA Balletique™ and standard Nylon-blend dancewear fabrics. In practical terms, this means that during a 90-minute ballet class, a dancer wearing FLA Balletique™ will experience significantly lower skin surface temperature, reduced moisture accumulation against the skin, and substantially less of the post-class skin irritation — redness, rashes, marks — that synthetic fabrics routinely cause. Breathability in dancewear is not a luxury. It is a performance variable. Overheated, moisture-trapped skin is distracted skin. And distraction is the enemy of performance.
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Sustainability Is Not a Footnote
FLA Balletique™ is made from renewable, natural fibres. It is not made from oil. This distinction matters more than it might seem.
Conventional Nylon is derived from petroleum — the same source as most plastics. Every time a synthetic leotard is washed, it sheds microplastic fibres that pass through water treatment systems and enter the ocean. According to current estimates, synthetic textiles are one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution globally.
FLA Balletique™ produces none of this. Its fibres are natural, biodegradable, and sourced from renewable origins. Fla Ballet partners with UK-based raw material suppliers and local producers to minimise carbon footprint throughout the supply chain. All Fla Ballet packaging is 100% biodegradable.
This is not greenwashing. It is the result of building a brand from scratch with sustainability as a design constraint, not an afterthought.
Why FLA Balletique™ Fits Differently
First-time Fla Ballet customers frequently notice that the sizing feels different from other brands. This is expected, and it is by design.
Because FLA Balletique™ has a significantly higher elastic recovery ratio than synthetic dancewear, Fla Ballet leotards are cut with a closer negative ease. The garment will feel compact when you hold it. Once worn, it conforms to the body's shape with a precision and gentleness that no synthetic fabric can replicate.
As a general guide, most dancers find that sizing up one size from their usual dancewear size gives the ideal fit. Fla Ballet's team personally reviews every order before dispatch and will reach out if there is any question about sizing.
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Not sure about your size? Contact the Fla Ballet team at support@flaballet.com or via WhatsApp at +44 7778 898988 before your order ships. The team will review your measurements and help you find the perfect fit before we dispatch. |
The New Generation Standard
FLA Balletique™ is not an incremental improvement on existing dancewear technology. It is a category reset.
For 100 years, the dancewear industry told dancers that discomfort was professionalism. That marks on the skin were the price of commitment. That the right way to dress for ballet was in plastic.
Fla Ballet disagrees. And FLA Balletique™ is our answer.
We are a small team based in North London. We are not a legacy brand with a hundred years of inertia. We have the freedom to build things correctly from the start — and FLA Balletique™ is what correctly looks like.
Feel your dance. Not your dancewear.
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About Fla Ballet Fla Ballet is a London-based sustainable dancewear brand that creates high-performance ballet leotards and accessories using FLA Balletique™ — a proprietary natural fibre blend of Merino wool, Mulberry silk, and organic cotton that is 4x more breathable than synthetic alternatives. Founded in North London, Fla Ballet is committed to the next generation of dance activewear. We Listen. We Support. |
A special thank you to Fla Ballet Product Pioneer Tester and Ballet Dancer Lucy Hind for sharing these beautiful images.
All photography featured in this article is the original work of Lucy Hind and Fla Ballet.
TikTok: @juicylucyland
Written by Fla Ballet
