We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Work N Days a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Work N Days, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One project we look back fondly on was a collaboration with choreographer Durante Verzola at the Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process evening. With art by Angela Lyn and an original composition by by Jesse Bannister, Work N Days was commissioned to produce costumes for a piece titled, “Passage – in the wake of the world” choreographed by Verzola. This was our first costume commission and the first time we had traveled for business. Seeing them onstage for the first time was surreal, it was an experience that gave us a newfound sense of confidence in our abilities as creatives.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

To begin, we’re both dancers with the Miami City Ballet and Work N Days was created in a time when we were both dealing with injuries that kept us from dancing. What began as a desire to make garments for ourselves has resulted in opportunities to create and share them with others. We have had the opportunity to collaborate with other creatives in the form of costume design and conceptual custom wear and have designed pieces for dancers of all identities. It has been a tremendous undertaking trying to balance a full-time ballet career with starting a brand but what we have created is so enriching and fulfilling that it feels as though they truly fuel one another. We’re lucky to have one another, we understand the pressure we experience and inspire each other to persevere when things get tough. Work N Days is a labor of love, through trials and tribulations we aspire to learn and share our creativity with others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of our work has to be seeing our friends and colleagues wearing our designs. To combine our love for dance and movement as well as fashion is a tremendous gift; it feels incredibly gratifying to see dancers that we admire exude confidence while wearing our garments during rehearsals and on social media. Work N Days was born out of a need to express ourselves authentically, to create pieces that we want to show off because we are confident wearing them.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The name “Work N Days” is inspired by the Greek didactic poem “Works and Days” by Hesiod. The key themes of the story have served as a philosophy for ourselves throughout this endeavor; fulfillment is found in honesty and hard work, it’s in the process that we feel the greatest reward. Our designs are inspired by quintessential style icons of the past, dancers such as Rudolf Nureyev and Natalia Makarova as well as Freddie Mercury and Audrey Hepburn. These individuals were all larger than life and made a statement with how they presented themselves, it is our hope that through Work N Days we can inspire others to embrace this inherent quality within themselves.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @workndays

Image Credits

Juliet Hay

Elyse Mertz

Alexander Iziliaev