How excited I was to open my mailbox and find a giant package stuffed inside. I opened it to discover a massive amount of purple; which turned out to be yoga pants from Foat Design. I quickly removed the pants I was wearing and tried the purple cotton flared yoga pants on for size. Immediately my butt looked tighter, higher, nicer. Perhaps it was because I had heard so many rumors and wanted them to be true. Rumors about what I can now, officially call “Foat Butt”—that is, pants designed to highlight the assets of a woman’s curvature, with material that fits snug but not tight, that are comfortable and yet slightly sexy at the same time.

Sexiest of all: the material is made from recycled cotton! For the Urban Yoga Wear (which I tried) they use the highest count of natural fibers and a smaller percentage of elasticity so the clothing can keep its shape and comfort. For the couture line they revamp old clothes and turn them into better, cooler, sleeker items: from turning dresses out of sweaters to skirts out of blouses the possibilities are endless but the designs are limited (hence the couture).

Now the clothing is pricier than I could usually afford, but then again, I’m a thrift store/garage sale shopper. I generally prefer second-hand because I feel I am not contributing to child labor, slave labor, or American job displacement amongst other problems.

Three Reasons Foat Deisgn Clothing is Worthy of Our Dollars:

1) Made from recycled or revamped clothing/fabric.

2) Made in the United States.

3) Hand-Made for you.

The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota with boutiques throughout the United States. The co-owners Zoë Foat  and twin sister Kaja Foat are the sole designers for the business.

Design elements include: making patterns by hand and sewing up the samples; as well as designing and sewing all the one-of-a-kind products Foat Design carries (leg warmers, arm warmers, scarves, to name a few). Zoë and Kaja do all the marketing, sales, graphic design, public relations, customer service, business to business out-reach, accounting, and community out-reach by teaching donation yoga classes in our studio and others (they are 300 hour certified Jivamuki yoga instructors).

And there are three independent contractors who help them, one in-house seamstress for the yoga-line, one in-house seamstress for bridal and couture and one sales rep. So no one has to worry about inappropriate labor laws here. According to Karla, the Foat Design seamstress, “A typical work day is the most calming part of my day…I get to play and make clothes for people who are trying to be better people.”

The time involved to make the products varies from an hour for yoga pants to 20+ hours for a bridal gown. Pieces are deconstructed, patterned, redesigned then cut and sewn. All detail work is done by hand. Their scarves are made from recycled scraps of material.

Living in Boulder I’ve been able to test the yoga pants at various levels. First I wore them on a light hike, which worked out pretty well. The next day I had yoga class, which I biked to. The flared style is not so great for bike riding, as I had to roll them all the way up past my knees so they wouldn’t get caught in the spokes. During the actual yoga class they were quite nice, they didn’t bunch, they moved when I moved, and the flares didn’t actually get caught under my feet like I thought they might. Though a few days later I did trip up the stairs while wearing them. The flare style may not be best to wear at instructor lead classes— as the instructor may not being able to see foot alignment—but for individual or home practice they’d work just fine. Or one could just buy the straight leg.

Overall the company and the clothes they make are amazing. I’d definitely recommend them to anyone looking for new yoga wear or some hot couture.

Check more of Foat Design here.