Glitter and glam at the gym: NJ woman designs activewear with sass

When you've been on a Broadway stage wearing all kinds of glittery, shimmery, sexy, colorful costumes, a dull run-of-the-mill pair of leggings and top just won't do. You want to stand out, you want to look enchanting, you want to be the "star of the show" — even when you're just working out.

At least that's what Upper Saddle River resident Emily Hsu, a former actress, wanted when she practiced Tree Pose and Downward Facing Dog Split at her local yoga studio. "I didn't want to blend in," says Hsu (pronounced soo), a 51-year-old married mother of two girls, 17 and 13.

So she made her own activewear — leggings with colorful designs, leggings that sparkled, leggings with wild animal prints, leggings with bold, bright colors, leggings with mermaid fish scale prints and leggings with a flattering high waist ("I was among the first to do it. Now nearly everyone does") — and wore them to her classes. People noticed.

Today, Hsu heads an eponymous, local, 8-year-old design business that sells women's workout clothes for all types of fitness activities. Her activewear — dazzling leggings, tops, sweatshirts, sweatpants, biker shorts, short skirts, coverups — can be found at emilyhsuedesigns.com and in select yoga studios including Pure Barre, Cyclebar, Pilates Club and Row House.

Or on stars. Among the glitterati who have worn her clothes: the Rockettes, Nicole Kidman, Broadway stars Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Music Man) and Beth Nicely (Spamalot, Bullets Over Broadway,) and TV personality Amanda Kloots (currently co-host of The Talk).

"I never set out to have my own company," says Hsu. She set out to become an actress. "I always dreamed of going to New York City and working on Broadway," she says. As a young girl, she put on shows in the backyard of her family home in Troy, Michigan, where she grew up. Her parents sang in a Chinese choir. She studied piano, flute and guitar. "Music was always in our lives," she says. In fifth grade, she was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. "I knew everyone else's lines. I would mouth their lines on stage. I was good at it."

She was also a good student. "I wanted to go to Harvard," she says.

She did — "I'm an overachieving Type A personality," she says — and then high-tailed it to New York City, where she landed jobs on Broadway seemingly easily. She performed in "Side Show," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Boy from Oz," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Cats" and "Miss Saigon." "I was lucky," she says. "I went from show to show."

She moved to Park Ridge in 2001, and, in 2008, soon after she had her first daughter, to Upper Saddle River. Three years after her second daughter was born, Hsu quit the theater. "A lot of theater happens out of town or on tours," she says. "I did not want to be away from my family. I do a little TV, film things now and then." She has appeared in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" and "Person of Interest," and "Prodigal Son" on TV.

Besides, she says, "now I have a second career with activewear." She worked hard to create it.

“She’s probably one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met," says Susanne Miller, a Cresskill resident who worked as her assistant. "She is a perfectionist. She does all the designs. She creates all the prints. She is involved in every aspect of the business."

She also takes pride in making her clothes strictly in the USA, much of it in New Jersey factories (one is in West New York, another in Paterson). Her fashion cutter is in Kearny. "This is beyond a full-time job," she says. "I'm always designing. I'm pretty much a one-woman show. I do all the photography for the website, handle the social media, promote the brand, go to industry conventions. I'm a control freak, I guess." A control freak who wants her customers to feel "special, confident, to be the stars of the show."

A piece of clothing, she believes, can help do that. "Activewear should help show your personality. Fitness isn't serious. It should be fun."

And, apparently, a little theatrical, too.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Emily Hsu designs in NJ brings glam to gym, activewear