Nancy Rose grew up as a nationally ranked elite gymnast and competed at the division-one level at Pennsylvania State University. After being sidelined by a shoulder injury midway through her college career, she turned to her other obsession, fashion. Nancy moved to Rome to immerse herself in European design. After graduating from Penn State, she moved to New York and enrolled at the Parsons School of Design. Nancy emerged from Parsons to create her own signature collection of cutting-edge designs, but soon felt a strong pull back to her athletic roots. She merged her keen understanding of body mechanics from her gymnastics background with her experience in the fashion industry, and Nancy Rose Performance was born.