At the age of only 17, Anne Walker opened her own dance school in Liverpool. From the onset Anne supplied her students with leotards and shoes having persuaded a local shop to supply her at a discounted price. By the age of 21 she had her own dance premises and gradually the product side was turning into a small business.

As the school developed, Anne decided to try and make leotards for her students herself. She persuaded her mother to lend her £50 to buy a very ancient industrial overlocker, she enlisted the help of the older students who cut out the garments, and with the help of one of the mums they went into production!

Other dancing teachers soon started buying leotards from her and before long her friend's attic bedroom was turned into a small production unit. Eventually the dancewear manufacturing and sales needed to become a separate business to her dancing school. Thus in 1978, Harlequin Dancewear was born.

Thirty years on IDS is the UK's largest wholesale dancewear supplier with a £7+ million turnover, and a 14,000 plus customer base servicing dance teachers and dance shops with quality dancewear from as far afield as Australia. Some 60 people work at the 26,600 sq ft state of the art warehouse and offices.

Each year, IDS launches a 244 page mail order catalogue packed with over 8,500 products including dance shoes, tights, leotards and costumes to accessories and stage props. The future is bright with IDS!