Local Fitness Instructor Is Launching a Leggings Line
Kelly Brabants. All photos by Katherine Mary Photography provided to bostonmagazine.com
The trend of celebrating the booty in pop culture continues to be in full force, but if you want a butt like a Brazilian supermodel, you’re going to have to put in work. Fortunately, here in Boston, we have Kelly Brabants, a.k.a. the booty maker (just made that up). She’s been teaching her cult-favorite Booty by Brabants classes for more than a year at The Wave at the Seaport Hotel and at the Club by George Foreman III.
While perusing a Brazilian market in Rio de Janeiro, Brabants’ mom—who is from the area—came across a pair of workout leggings. “About a year ago, my mom came back with these leggings,” Brabants says. “She has an eye for fashion, and she knows what I like. I became obsessed with these leggings, so when my mom went back to Brazil, I told her I need to get more. I only had one pair and was washing them in the sink everyday. My mom came back with tons of colors, and I started wearing them in my classes.”
Brabants says that the positive feedback from clients was overwhelming, and she knew she had to get them to the U.S. It took about a year of back and forth with the designer—whom for now, Brabants prefers to remain anonymous—but we can now get these amazing leggings that Brabants calls, “Spanx for your ass” for ourselves.
“Your butt looks phenomenal in these leggings,” she says.
The leggings are “one-size-fits-most” and start at $65. Although it’s just one pair of leggings, (“One perfect pair,” Brabants says) it comes in 10 different colors. “I’m so passionate about my own leggings, because I’ve lived in the other brands for so long,” she says. “When I found these, I thought they are so unique; the elastic in the material, the fabric feels like liquid on your skin.”
The texture is ribbed, which makes it look almost like a wave and gives the pants a shiny-but-not-too-shiny effect. “The leggings conceal imperfections. They don’t budge,” Brabants says. “You can squat for days and these pants will not fall down. It hides imperfections, but it’s not so spandex where you can see every crease. They are flattering, forgiving, lightweight, and breathable. They also dry really quickly.”
And although the main purpose of the leggings is to workout in them, Brabants says that people in Brazil wear them to the beach. “I’ve put them on with a pair of heels and gone out,” she says.
If you’re worried about a one-size-fits-most approach, don’t be. Brabants assures us that they are stretchy but not in a Lululemon scandal kind of way. Also, when I tried on a pair, I was worried when I pulled them out of the bag that they’d be too small, but they stretched perfectly and fit like glove. I even did a bend-over-double-mirror-test to make sure I wouldn’t be giving anyone a show in Pilates class. After two Zumba classes and one Pilates session, they still fit snuggly, dried quick, and didn’t show a thing.
“I’ve washed mine more than 100 times and they haven’t pilled,” Brabants says. “My goal is to stay loyal and genuine; it will always be made in Rio.”
