Darlene Langford of Ocean Beach started out as a dance mom who “corrected” a flaw in her daughter’s costume, which she described as a “disaster.”
Little did she realize then that it would be the start of a brand new career.
“I rescued those costumes, and slowly over time, I started doing the studio teacher’s costumes for her kids,” Langford said. “Then I started doing the whole studio, one-of-a-kind, made-to-order dancer’s costumes, very fancy with lots of patterns.”
Pointing out she “went to school for engineering and physics,” Langford said, when asked if she “fell” into dancewear, that it was more like, “It pulled me in, dragging (laughing). Every year (thereafter) I would say, ‘I won’t do it next year.’ But once you build a reputation — you get phone calls and people want you to do their costumes.”
During that summer off-season, Langford converted lots of leftover fabric into boxes and boxes of finished dance costumes, which prompted her to open her Del Mar dancewear boutique, and later, a manufacturing center in the Rock and Roll San Diego building at 3360 Sports Arena Blvd., Suite A, in the Midway area.
“I just did everything (at first), all the sewing too,” said Langford, adding, “Then I couldn’t keep up, and I had to start hiring people.”
But there were two things Langford wanted out of her new enterprising dancewear venture: complete control, and no outsourcing of operations overseas.
“It’s strictly family run and local — and it’s going to stay that way,” Langford pledged about Details Dancewear, noting her core company comprised herself, her two daughters and a niece.
“It’s just us four running this shop,” said Langford, who added, “I never foresee a time that I would send my stuff to China or Indonesia (to be manufactured). I wouldn’t do it.”
Noting she’s “not trying to compete” with the big boxes, Langford said, even though it would be cheaper to outsource labor overseas. She added, “all my people live in San Diego, not in China, and we can’t live off $5 a day. I pay my people well even though it makes my profit margin smaller. How much profit do you really need as long as you can keep growing your business?”
Being in control also means being able to personally guide her dancewear business.
“It’s like steering a big ship,” explained Langford. “When you’re smaller, you can change direction very quickly, come up with ideas faster, produce them and put them out there faster than anybody else.”
The Langfords are branding Details Dancewear as “eye-catching costumes for the dancer and dance competitor which are designed and constructed in San Diego which transition easily from studio to stage.”
The company’s 2015 catalogue features eye-popping photography of young female dancers in action wearing dance costumes. The collection is being billed as “a glimpse into the fantasy world of light and dark through movement, traveling from the autumn woods to the summer beaches.”
Details Dancewear designs, manufactures and distributes clothing for dancers of all ages. But the heart of the dancewear market is young women ages 9 to 14. Langford doled out special praise to her young models, like Chloe East from Orange County, who’ve participated in her annual catalogue collection.
“Some of these girls are famous; they have followings of thousands,” noted Langford, adding, “People like her and my daughter doing social media are helping ‘climb’ the business. Every day, more and more people come, and our company becomes more popular.”
What’s next for Langford and Details Dancewear? “It gets bigger,” answered Langford. “I want to be big — and local. I’ll find a way to do it.” 
For more information visit www.detailsdancewear.com.