The dancer and actress on making a relationship click, how she deals with stress, and her new sportswear line, the Julianne Hough Collection.
Some mornings it's dance cardio. Others, it's two-a-days—SoulCycle plus yoga—or a hike with her "girls" (aka pups). No matter what, five or six days a week, the dancer and actress starts her day in workout wear. So the natural next step for Julianne? Designing a comfy-chic sportswear line you can do it all in. Here, the star talks creating clothes for multitaskers, making a relationship click, and relieving busy-life-stress.
What got you interested in designing athleisure wear?
I lived with a bunch of models when I first moved to Los Angeles, and they were always dressed to the nines, and I was always in my dance gear. I thought, 'I feel like such a shlub.' Nothing was really cute that I could go to the movies in or go to Target in or to dinner with the girls. But I was always dancing. So I needed to blend the two worlds. I wanted the line to be authentic to me, so I made sure there was a little bit of dance feel to it. I wanted it to feel almost sassy and a little sexy.
Finish the sentence: Dancing feels like...
Freedom. The freedom to be myself, freedom to be not myself, freedom to be silly, freedom to be sexy. I can be anything that I want.
Is your fiancé (pro hockey player Brooks Laich) a good dancer?
He wants to learn so badly. We'll dance in the kitchen and stuff, and I'll teach him little moves. But he's a country boy from Canada. He's not trained, but I think he's pretty good.
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What makes you two mesh?
He gives me consistency, and I give him variety and color. I'm a very compassionate person and see the good in everyone, so I can be a little bit too forgiving of things. But he's like, 'No, you can get angry.'
Imagine you have an entire day to yourself. What do you do first?
I would work out first. That's my time. I'm a physical person, so I just have to be moving. Then I'd reorganize my closet—put music on and get rid of stuff.
Do you ever get totally stressed-out?
I get overwhelmed. I'm like, 'Ah! There are too many things to make decisions about.' Then I back off and don't make any decisions. So usually it takes me a day to just be silent, have some pizza and a glass of wine, watch TV. And I never watch TV. That's when you know something's up.
When all else fails, what makes you smile?
My dogs. I have two Cavalier King Charles spaniels—Lexi and Harley. They are heaven.
Get Julianne's Look
Julianne Hough by MPG Sport Barre Top ($60; lordandtaylor.com)
Julianne Hough Collection by MPG Sport Shuffle Leggings ($68; lordandtaylor.com)
