Marisa started making dance clothes for herself during the decade she danced with The New York City Ballet. She was frustrated by the high cost and poor construction of the clothing she could buy off the rack, and so she started to re-design dancewear to really fit and last.

Friends at N.Y.C.B. began to ask her to design for them as well, to accentuate the strong points and minimizing the lesser features of their beautiful bodies. Soon Marisa had a full time hobby sewing for herself and friends.

When Marisa moved to Europe to dance with Nacho Duato's Compañia Nacionale de Danza and later with Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, she brought her sewing machine with her and improved upon styles she saw being worn all over Europe. She incorporated a classic use of line and European sophistication while maintaining the unique fit and "dance-ability" of her designs.

When Marisa moved back to New York City, joining the Broadway scene by entering the cast of The Phantom of the Opera, a whole new series of styles was born. The Broadway gypsies had different esthetic needs and requirements for their dance/audition wear. So Marisa began to include a wider range of fabrics, colors, and styles based on these Broadway needs.

In response to the growing interest in Pilates, she has introduced ByMarisa Pilateswear, which is designed to meet the specific needs of pilates students. Using luxurious wick away fabrics imported from abroad, she created styles that work well in conjunction with the work on Pilates machines.

Throughout, the original principals of ByMarisa remain the same: couture quality established through cut, color, content and construction.

You spend hours every day strengthening and shaping your body . . . don't you want a garment that shows it off to your best advantage?