Local fashion designer creates one-of-a-kind clothing

From start to finish, Mara Huard’s designs are her own.

She creates the designs for her fashions, draws the pattern drafts, sources her own fabrics, then cuts and sews to create a one-of-a-kind piece. She then turns around and sells it in her retail store, Aerial Clothing SRQ, located at 6591 Superior Ave.

“I put my hands on everything,” Huard says.

From a young age, Huard knew she wanted to be a fashion designer. She started drawing on little pieces of paper at the age of 4, and moved onto sewing and designing clothes at 13.

In 2010, Aerial Clothing was born in Atlanta. However, it wasn’t the brand it is today. Huard soon fell in love and moved to Sarasota, opening the door for Aerial Clothing SRQ.

After moving to Sarasota in 2013, the community shaped the clothing line into the vibrant, free-flowing brand it is now. Huard says she gets her inspiration from the beauty, sunshine and colors of Sarasota.

“I don’t pay attention to trends. I don’t read fashion magazines,” Huard says. “Because to me, style is something that is either there or it’s not, and nobody can tell you what that is. So I pay attention to my surroundings.”

The forms for her designs come from her lifestyle. In addition to Aerial Clothing, Huard is a yoga instructor and dancer. She teaches yoga at multiple venues, including Circusoul Yoga, prAna, local gyms and private lessons. The need for movement in yoga creates the function and form of her clothing.

“I like vibrancy, I like expressiveness,” Huard says. “I like how my clients can express themselves physically and be able to wear a jumpsuit to yoga class and then to dinner.”

Huard says her clothes have a certain appeal, and they aren’t made for everybody.

“This is definitely an aesthetic where you will like it or you don’t,” Huard says. “People who

don’t like print aren’t going to like my clothes, generally.”

Her love for color is evident in her shop. A rainbow of colors and patterns are alive and well in her designs, giving the shop a lively atmosphere. Huard says those who wear her clothes have to have a certain confidence.

Although Huard herself may love color and pattern, she knows not everyone does, and says she “lets her (clothes) speak for themselves.”

“They aren’t meant to appeal to every single person,” Huard says. “They are meant to be for people who feel really confident and who like that sense of a little bit of flamboyance and self expression in how they dress.”

In the future, Huard hopes to expand into wholesale and see her designs exclusively in boutiques. Currently, she has clothes in Treat Boutique. To stay true to her brand, vision and one-of-a-kind uniqueness, she has no desire to sell in department stores.