What came first, The grip sock or the grip glove?
The Mermaid Sole™ came before the company did. Before the name, before the logo, before any of it.
The socks came first
I'm a graphic designer as well as an instructor, and the sole was the first thing I made where both jobs mattered at once. Teaching told me where a foot really goes on a carriage. Design told me how to create something I'd want to wear.
What I wanted was grip that holds everywhere the foot lands, fabric with enough compression and elastane to stay put instead of stretching out mid-class, and enough cotton in it to feel good.
Where the Siren came from
I was born in South Florida. I live in Queens and teach in Astoria now, but I'm a beach girl and it doesn't wash off. The sea is in the sole pattern, the name, and most of the colors. The Siren is also a nod to the women who teach wellness around here — Astoria, the North Fork, the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore. Strong, confident women running their own rooms, and generally the reason anyone shows up to a 6am class.
Hands were another matter
People started bringing towels to class. For both sweat — and to lay over the handlebars so their hands would grip better. Once you see one person do it, you see everyone doing it.
Every studio sells grip socks. Every new client asks about them, and in some classes they are a requirement. Nobody stops you at the door about your hands, so people solve it themselves — a towel over the bar, a sleeve pulled down over the palm, a wipe between sets. The workaround is so ordinary that nobody calls it a problem.
It is one. Slipping hands cost you what sliding feet cost you: your form is compromised, and you come out of the move early.
So I made gloves. Thin, sweat wicking, nothing bulky — microfiber suede on the palm, because it holds without adding a layer you have to fight. Second skin, not equipment.
So: the sock came first, and the glove came from watching people improvise.
Both of them get judged in the same place — a real class, on a real machine. That's why the Grip Promise works the way it does: wear them, and if they don't grip the way you hoped, email me within 15 days. Nothing needs to come back.
If you're still bringing a towel, I made these for you.
Mandy MacDonald is a certified Lagree instructor at Lagree NY in Astoria, New York, and the founder of SOLEMETHOD.