Danielle and Gabrielle Scott, 19-year-old identical twin sisters, never imagined that their love for figure skating would eventually lead them to create their own sports apparel company. Starting figure skating later than most, the sisters defied the odds to excel in the sport.
“We started [figure skating] pretty late, but we defied a lot of odds,” Gabrielle shared.
The journey began in 2016 when the Scotts, living in Florida, sought a summer activity. After discovering figure skating on YouTube, they decided to give it a try. They attended a public skating session at the Panthers IceDen, the home of the Panthers Figure Skating Club, and quickly fell in love with the sport.
“We were able to skip five levels in a year and have been able to compete at regionals and do really well,” Gabrielle explained. “Now, we’re at the senior level and train six days a week.”
Alongside their busy training schedule, the sisters founded and now own Emiactive, a high-end sports apparel company focused on creating clothing and accessories that are both technically functional and warm.
“We started our clothing brand, Emiactive, in 2019,” Danielle said. “We wanted to name the company after our sister [Brynn] because she had sacrificed so much and always came to the ice rink to watch us.”
Officially launched in September 2021, Emiactive began with gloves. The Scotts faced difficulty finding gloves that were both warm and durable when they started skating. To solve this issue, they worked tirelessly to design and test gloves that would meet their needs.
“We went through a rigorous testing period for a couple of months before we launched our products,” Gabrielle recalled. “We wanted something that had a fleece lining but was not too thick. They needed to be thin and warm at the same time.”
After testing various fabrics and collaborating with manufacturers, Emiactive released its Technically Warm Gloves collection, which features seven colors and a technology thumbprint. Since then, the company has expanded its offerings to include a range of clothing and accessories appealing to figure skaters and athletes in other sports.
“There’s a lot of brands out there that basically make yoga clothes. There’s not really a lot of figure skating-specific clothing,” Danielle said. “We thought to be different, we needed to make something that caters to figure skaters. We’ve also seen people from different lifestyles [who are not skaters] use our items.”
Emiactive has grown its customer base through social media and brand ambassadors, reaching people across the globe. In addition to the gloves that launched the brand, the company sells a variety of products including water bottles, T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, ear warmers, and leggings, which are among the company’s best sellers. According to the sisters, their business has earned positive customer reviews and boasts a zero percent product return rate.
“Our favorite part about running a company is the feedback we receive from our customers,” Danielle said. “They really love our leggings, and they love the diversity that we have in our brand.”
“We also like to see people wearing our products,” Gabrielle added. “We created this brand for athletes like us. So, if a product wouldn’t work for us, then it wouldn’t work for our customers. That’s why we really strive for quality.”
Looking ahead, Emiactive plans to continue expanding its brand with new, innovative products and designs. While apparel remains their main focus, the company has also created a platform for blog articles inspired by the Scotts and their Instagram followers, covering topics ranging from food and health to style tips. Followers have shared how helpful these posts have been in their skating journeys and daily lives. Eventually, the sisters hope to expand their reach further through a podcast.
Above all, the Scotts aim to make a meaningful impact on figure skating by promoting diversity and representation within the sport.
“We want to see more people who look like us enter the sport, because there’s not many people who look like us in the sport,” Gabrielle said.
“Our goal is to have different types of people in the sport and to promote inclusivity across our brand,” Danielle added. “We hope young athletes will look up to us and see that anything is possible. And, if you have an idea, then you can make it come to life.”
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