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"Fashion was always my thing. It goes as far back to when I was five years old and I&amp;#39;d wear my favorite nightgown each night in a new way. One night, I&amp;#39;d twist the long sleeves into a diaphanous halter-neck dress (very Michael Kors); the next night it became a one-shoulder draped goddess gown (hello, J.Mendel). But, when I wasn&amp;#39;t playing fashion designer, I was actually playing backup dancer to Janet Jackson (in my mind, clearly&amp;#8212;coordination isn&amp;#39;t a natural gift). Backup dancer was my plan B career path.\nSo whenever I get to meet a fashion designer, I&amp;#39;m always compelled to ask them what they would be doing if they weren&amp;#39;t sketching, draping, and creating worlds of clothes with their vivid imaginations. And I often get fascinating responses.\nOne of the most fascinating responses to my favorite question was from the emerging women&amp;#39;s wear designer Daniel Vosovic, whom I met over breakfast recently. You might remember his name from the 2004 edge-of-your-seat season of Project Runway, but the Michigan native has flourished in his own right, launching his eponymous label in 2010. As part of the prestigious CFDA Incubator program, Daniel is celebrated among some of the finest new talent out there, and he&amp;#39;s specifically known for his juxtaposition of digital prints with old-world hand embroidery. As we got to talking, Daniel told me that before envisioning himself a fashion designer, he was actually on the path to becoming a professional gymnast, having trained since the age of six! Now this I had to see.\nPinterestFacebookThat&amp;#39;s Daniel doing a split. This is already impressive!\nBut Daniel, ever so sweet, completely endearing, and impossibly charming, wasn&amp;#39;t just going to show my his technique&amp;#8212;he got me (and my not-anything-like-Janet-Jackson-moves self) to go for a gymnastics session at Chelsea Piers in New York City with him and his trainer. See what ensued below:\nPinterestFacebook&amp;quot;My parents introduced me to gymnastics,&amp;quot; says Daniel, who worked out for an astonishing four hours a day, six days a week, for 12 years. &amp;quot;It stuck with me. It&amp;#39;s weird how I didn&amp;#39;t realize that I was missing out. I didn&amp;#39;t realize that that this was not the norm with other kids my age. I was missing out on Friday football games and bonfires.&amp;quot;\nPinterestFacebookBy the age of 18, Daniel had suffered several injuries and decided to shift gears entirely and pursue architecture in college. When that proved not quite right (&amp;quot;too slow,&amp;quot; says Daniel), he turned to the sewing machine. &amp;quot;I took a sewing class on a whim,&amp;quot; muses the designer. &amp;quot;I went from boxer shorts to cocktail dresses in a matter of weeks. It led me to [realize that] everything else is open for me. I changed my career path, my college&amp;#8212;I changed everything. I left my teammates and went into fashion.&amp;quot;\nUnderstanding gymnastics, how the body moves and what it is capable of, gives Daniel an edge with designing clothes on a daily basis. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#39;t design flat; I always think of what the woman looks like three-dimensionally,&amp;quot; he says.&amp;quot;\nWatch Daniel go! Talk about three-dimensionality!\nPinterestFacebookAnd, yes, that&amp;#39;s me with Daniel. And no, you don&amp;#39;t get to see the picture where I got stuck in the foam pit. That will picture will go in the same place as my Janet Jackson dance moves. Which is to say, out of sight!\n__\nPhotos by Kelly Sherin__\nWhat did you want to be when you were a kid? Did you stick with your original goals? What do you think of Daniel&amp;#39;s journey? Discuss!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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