Designs to Shine was founded in 1996 by Maria McGill. A professional dancer for many years, Maria quickly became bored with the limited designs that were available to dancers. With the help of her mother, she began to design and embellish gowns for herself. Her creations were so popular with other dancers and she was receiving so many requests that she decided to start making a handful of gowns for other people. Eventually, the demand for her gowns became so great that she decided to devote her time solely to designing.

Today, Maria is widely regarded as the leading designer in the dance world. Her work is considered so cutting-edge that she was chosen to design all of the gowns and some of the menswear for the hit ABC show Dancing With The Stars. Designs to Shine has expanded its line to include formal eveningwear. One of her eveningwear creations was worn by Kelly Monaco at the 2005 Daytime Emmy Awards.

Due to popularity of Dancing With The Stars, Maria has received a great amount of attention in publications such as Sports Illustrated, Star, In Touch, Inside TV, among others. Recently, Maria has been asked to work on a variety of other projects including Fox TV’s So You Think You Can Dance, and the Discovery Channel’s special Ballroom Boot Camp. Designs to Shine is now looking forward to expanding with the opening of a boutique in Los Angeles in the fall.

3851 62nd Avenue North Suite D
Pinellas Park, FL 33781
phone 727.525.4297
fax 727.525.4613
maria@designstoshine.com