PopFlex Active's Cassey Ho Pitches Taylor Swift Look for Next Travis Date

Taylor Swift wore POPFLEX Active’s bestselling athletic skort in her recent “Fortnight” social media videos and designer Cassey Ho knows just what staples should join her collection.

“In my wildest dreams, I actually didn’t think it was the Pirouette skort [Taylor] was gonna choose if she ever did wear POPFLEX,” Ho, 37, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, April 26, while promoting her partnership with The UPS Store Small Biz Challenge. “I had always imagined that she would walk out in our Go With the Flow Jumpsuit.”

She continued, “It really looks like her style [and] it’s actually coming back into stock in May. Maybe she’ll see it then, but it’s a beautiful one-piece with flowy legs, tight … arms and a big square neck [and] empire waist. I really feel like that’s her style, like, she could go on a date with Travis [Kelce] in it and she’d be so cute. Oh, and there’s pockets, of course!” (Swift has been dating Kelce, both 34, since summer 2023.)

Swift first showed off her lavender Pirouette skort in an April 19 social media video, pairing it with the brand’s matching corset bra and a fitted white shirt from Rumored. The skort is Ho’s “favorite” piece in her collection and seeing Swift, of whom the designer is a major fan, rock it has been her “ultimate dream.”

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“I think she bought it, which is crazy because I was like, ‘How did she find out about it? Is she watching TikTok videos and getting influenced?’” Ho told Us, noting the skort was not a gift from the brand. “I have no idea, but she wore the skort in that ‘Fortnight’ video on Friday and I was in the hair bowl getting my roots retouched and dying. I was dying because this was like my ultimate dream, like ultimate ultimate ultimate. There is not another artist or celebrity in the entire world that I would rather have my designs on. That’s [been] an internal Swiftie goal of mine, so I can’t believe that dream came true.”

Ho’s dreams reached a new level when Swift sported more POPFLEX pieces in a Thursday, April 25, YouTube Short video of her Eras Tour rehearsals. In addition to dancing in the Pirouette skort and coordinating corset bra, Swift also sported the brand’s Twirl Skort and Criss-Cross Booty Shorts.

“That’s four items in one video,” Ho exclaimed. “Like, she’s wearing it so much, I can’t believe it.”

Ho has not had personal contact with Swift — save for attending one “secret sessions” listening party for 1989 back in 2014 — but is grateful for the pop star’s support of her “bootstrap” business.

“I want Taylor to know what a huge impact she has made just on me personally,” Ho said. “Like, helping me heal through heartbreak with her lyrics but then also [gives] me strength in these times when people are taking advantage of me as an entrepreneur, much like people have taken advantage of her and so when she released her rerecords with ‘Taylor’s Version.’”

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Swift notably battled for control of her back catalog in 2019, inspiring her to rerecord and rerelease her past LPs so that she could own her work. Ho has dealt with similar copyright issues, watching fast fashion retailers attempt to mimic her Pirouette skort. Ho obtained a patent for the design in January.

“We [just] changed the title of the Pirouette skort to Cassey’s Version, like, ‘This is the real one, that’s not the dupe,’” she joked to Us on Friday. “It’s just like the little Swiftie things that we do.”

The lavender version of the Pirouette had sold out even before Swift was seen wearing it. As a result, Ho and her POPFLEX team decided to open a limited preorder for fans wanting to get their hands on the skirt for themselves. The new batch of Pirouette skorts will be shipped in July.

“This preorder is gonna take a few months because we need to literally weave the fabric, color-match it back to [the lilac] color exactly so it matches what Taylor had,” Ho explained. “That’s not easy because every time in the dying process it changes a little bit, with heat [and] cutting patterns. It is really being made from scratch and … we’re trying to work as fast as we can to get Swifties their skorts. I also want to make sure that same quality remains; I don’t want to ever rush through anything.”

In addition to stitching Pirouette skorts and other POPFLEX products, Ho is focused on mentorship. She will serve as host and judge of the final stage of The UPS Store Small Biz Challenge on May 16.

“There were 6,000 small biz entrepreneurs who entered the challenge and there’ll be three finals there [in Miami],” Ho said. “I’m really excited to see who wins because, beyond the scholarship and the money, it’s about that mentorship and that’s really important. Just the support that you can get from people who really get what you’re going through because it’s tough when you’re starting out a business and oftentimes a lot of the people around you don’t believe in you or don’t think it’s going to work out, so I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

She added, “Any time it’s about entrepreneurship and any time I can help young entrepreneurs follow their dreams, much like how Taylor Swift just literally made my wildest dreams come true, I am all about helping young women and young entrepreneurs really take that leap and take the risk to follow what your heart is trying to tell you to do.”