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Sarah Weihman is a former NCAA Division 1 athlete and trained architect. Now, she runs Paradis Sport, a company that makes performance underwear for women. We met Sarah when she was already running Paradis Sport, and we've always admired her product's thoughtful design and have been intrigued by her shift from architecture to underwear. Today, Sarah shares the story of her design background and how it influences everything she does: designing houses and underwear.

I have always loved making things. Baking scones and cakes, knitting hats and mittens, and creating watercolors and drawings brings me joy. In architecture school, I spent hundreds of hours gluing tiny wire trees and cardboard figures into wooden models. Imagining those spaces and making them come to life was magical.

After completing graduate degrees in architecture and landscape architecture, I moved to Newport RI with my now husband. There I opened a satellite office for a small residential firm based in Charlottesville, VA.  My primary task was to oversee construction on a large house renovation and to design a series of garden spaces around it.  With very limited experience in an office and no mentor in the office, I learned everything I could from contractors and tradespeople. During daily site visits over the course of two years, the incredibly talented masons, carpenters and craftspeople on the job site taught me more about materials and building techniques than I could ever have learned in a traditional office. In 2006, I started my own practice, Drake Design Studio, and took on residential projects throughout New England. Having my own firm allowed me to work closely with clients and to see projects evolve from start to finish. 

In late 2019, I was busy with a range of house and garden design projects when I started thinking about a new project: underwear. I had been struggling for a year to find active underwear that worked for me. The brand that I had worn for 10+ years had changed the cut and fabric of their briefs and I hated the new style. It had me constantly readjusting my underwear when I was out on a hike or a run. I ordered active underwear from several other brands and none of them worked for me. Some fell apart quickly, many did not stay in place, and a few had itchy tags in the back. When I later learned that most active underwear for women is designed by men I was not surprised.

I knew what I wanted in terms of a product, but had no experience in product design and little knowledge of business, sales or ecommerce. “Why not see if you can find a way to make the underwear you want to wear?” my husband asked.  “How hard could it be?”  So I contacted fabric mills and sportswear manufacturing facilities throughout the US and Asia. Finally, the owner of a seamless manufacturing facility in North Carolina called me back. When he heard what I wanted to do, he said “You need to talk to Louise.” Louise Gagnon was a talented veteran designer based in Burlington, VT who had worked for Commando, NASA and the US military. She understood what I wanted to do and designed our first prototypes. 

To better understand the underwear problem, I surveyed college and amateur athletes, many of whom were my friends from the days when I played D1 sports. Some were Dartmouth field hockey and lacrosse players (from the programs where I had played) whom I met with when their coaches connected current players with alumni over Zoom during the pandemic lock-down of 2020. The response rate to these surveys and the interest in better underwear for active women was very high and I knew we had to keep going. Some of the Dartmouth players helped with fit-testing, and we had the great fortune to work with 5 fabulous interns from those teams. After 18 months and 8 prototypes, we launched our first product, a seamless bikini in 5 colors and 3 sizes. 

My background in design and making things with my hands helped me have the confidence to try this project, which has now grown into Paradis Sport, a company and team that I am so proud to be a part of. I learned in architecture school that putting an initial idea - “schematic design” - on paper and not worrying about it being perfect is the first step in the process of making anything. Getting feedback, iterating, and honing that design takes time and hard work. These things I knew. The components and underwear - yarn,  thread, and elastic - are clearly different from materials in building projects. But drawings and specifications, tiny measurements and tolerances  - ¼ “ can make all the difference - were all very familiar to me.  

The things I knew nothing about - operations, marketing, sales - were another matter altogether.  Luckily, brilliant women have stepped in to help in these roles and we are building this company together. Our team is small but mighty: Abigail Adams is our COO and also runs ultra marathons, and Laura King leads our marketing and ambassador programs and is also a professional cyclist. We also have a robust ambassador program, which now includes 27 women, 11 of whom live in New England. These Paradis Pros fit-test and genuinely love our products and help promote our brand with their communities. No other underwear brand is fit-testing with elite athletes.

From working with moss-covered stone, patinated copper or hand-hewn cedar on a job site, it was not a far stretch to work with plant-based fabrics that are tailored to the ¼”.  We are so happy to know we are supporting active women who appreciate the attention to detail and craft we are devoting to this overlooked but important first layer. 

About Paradis Sport:

Paradis Sport just won several best-in-class awards (from Runner’s World, Outside Magazine, Shape Magazine, Treeline Review, and Outdoor Life) and we have 3 new products in development. Our goals are ambitious: to make great, durable products that support women doing what they love free of distractions; to showcase and empower strong women; and to be on the cutting edge of sustainability. With this solid foundation, we are excited to keep building our brand and ethos.