How an Olympic connection was made between Egypt and Clovis. ‘Pinch me. Is this real?’

There was a sense of unveiling when Egyptian gymnast Jana Mahmoud competed at the Olympic games on Sunday, in a crystal laden leotard created by Snowflake Designs.

“It’s kind of like a wedding dress,” says LaDonna Snow, who founded the Clovis company in 1985.

It doesn’t get seen until the big day.

The competition leotard had a black foil body with gold and teal accents spreading out from the neckline. In all, 7,000 crystals were used in the design, which featured a bedazzled snake twisted around the right arm, some hieroglyphs and a small snowflake on the hip.

That’s the company’s signature and adorns every leotard it produces.

Egyptian National team

Snowflake Designs started working with a member of the Egyptian National team last year to create a custom leotard for its members to wear at that year’s World Championship.

Those leos (that’s short for leotards, for those not in the business) were so well received the company was asked to create another design for this year’s African Championship.

It was at that competition that Mahmoud and teammate Malak Hamza qualified for the Olympics in Paris. Snowflake Designs immediately began working on a new leotard design for the athletes.

Hamza competes in the trampoline event Aug. 2 and will wear a leotard that matches Mahoud’s.

40 years in Clovis

While this is the first Olympic showing for Snowflakes Designs, the company understands the gymnastic life more than most.

Snow was a competitive baton twirler, once upon a time. In fact, her final performance was at the opening of Bulldog Stadium in 1980.

Her daughter, Kindra Snow-Walker, started in gymnastics at the age of 2 and competed for years before becoming a gymnastics coach and eventually taking over the family business.

“For us, we live it,” Snow-Walker says.

It is a niche business. There are only five or six companies making gymnastics wear at the level Snowflake Designs does, she says.

“There are probably a lot of moms sewing in a bedroom.”

Which is actually how Snowflakes Designs started, with Snow making leotards out of the family home and selling them to other gymnastics moms.

She made no money for the first five years and ran the business off a rotating set of low-interest credit cards.

“I figured no bank would take a chance on me,” Snow says.

These days, the company employees nearly 30 people out of a 12,000-square-foot warehouse just off Clovis Avenue.

Inside, is a maze of rooms where the leotards are designed, cut, sewn and bejeweled.

In one room, there are long racks of gear waiting to be shipped out as orders come in through Amazon or Etsy or the company’s website.

In the next room, dozens of rolls of colorful fabric are slotted into shelves along the wall.

The company has a cutting machine and equipment to dye its own fabrics and an entire room dedicated to the application of decorative jewels.

Up front is the public-facing showroom, where you can sift through the company’s non-custom offerings and buy off the rack.

On the wall is a world map, clumped with tiny pink dots, each denoting a place where Snowflake Designs has been sold.

It’s a good visual of the company’s reach, even if it’s not even complete. At some point, Snow says, they just stopped adding dots.

So, yes, Snowflake Designs has outfitted many competitors over the years.

Gold medalist Mary Lou Retton ordered leotards for her daughters when they were young.

Snowflake Designs also made outfits for American gymnast Jade Carey (for the 12017 Championships) and Jordan Chiles, before she became an Olympian.

But the sport waxes and wanes on a four-year cycle that is synced to the Olympics, so having their designs on display at the games is something else entirely, Snow says.

“Our logo has never been on that stage,” she says.

“I was like, ‘pinch me. Is this real?’”

This story was originally published July 30, 2024 at 5:30 AM.