“One of the gyms I worked at as a fitness instructor was housed in a converted warehouse, so the temperatures would soar in summer! That was when I would see and hear how irritated many women felt by visible sweat patches around their bust and crotch areas. Even including those garments that claimed to be ‘sweat wicking’ didn’t work.”

It was through this work as an instructor and later following a very public incident that set Alana on a determined path to find activewear that she – and other women – could wear without worrying about large, obvious sweat marks.

“I’ll never forget the day that set this idea in my mind. I’d just finished a high intensity exercise class and thought I’d pop into the grocery store on my way home. As I was leaving, with my hands full of shopping bags, I dropped a bag of apples in front of patrons at a café. I actually heard a gasp and saw people look at my groin as I bent down to pick them up, and noticed that it really looked like I had wet my pants. There was a huge sweat stain between my legs! I’d really worked out and didn’t even realise it was so obvious. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!"

From that day Alana set about looking for activewear to buy that actually focused directly on minimising visible sweat patches through a different style of design. She could visualise exactly what it was that she wanted to buy but found that such products simply did not exist. And that was the turning point, Alana knew that if this product did not exist it needed to and she set out on her mission to create high quality sweat solution activewear. The concept of Idea Athletic was born.