Aerial arts is the broad term for performance and fitness disciplines done suspended from apparatus rigged from the ceiling. The biggest disciplines are silks (long fabric), lyra (a metal hoop), hammock (a wrapped sling), pole, and static trapeze. Each has its own technique vocabulary and its own apparel rules. Here is the plain-English explainer.
Aerial silks (also called tissu): Two long fabric panels suspended from a single rigging point. Athletes wrap, climb, and pose in the silk. Skills include foot locks, hip keys, drops, and inversions. Silks is the most popular discipline in most US studios.
Lyra (aerial hoop): A round metal hoop, usually 36 inches in diameter, suspended from one or two rigging points. Athletes pose, spin, and transition between positions on the hoop. The hoop can be coated with tape or grip wrap or left as bare metal.
Hammock (aerial sling, aerial yoga): A length of fabric tied into a wide sling. More restorative than silks, popular for aerial yoga and contemporary dance choreography. The fabric wraps the whole body in many sequences.
Pole: A vertical metal pole, brass or stainless steel. Athletes climb, spin, and pose using skin contact for grip. Pole splits into sport pole, fitness pole, and exotic pole subgenres.
Static trapeze: A horizontal bar suspended from two ropes. Athletes pose and transition on and around the bar. The bar is fixed in place (versus flying trapeze, which swings).
Most studios teach two to four of these disciplines. A few teach all of them.
Apparel for each discipline follows the contact-point logic. Wherever the apparatus touches the body, you either need coverage (for fabric and metal disciplines) or bare skin (for pole).
| Discipline | Coverage Needed | Standard Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Silks | Armpits, backs of knees, full torso | Full-length leggings + fitted top + long-sleeve layer |
| Lyra | Backs of knees, waist, armpits | Leggings + fitted top + bike short overlay |
| Hammock | Full body coverage | Leggings + fitted top + warm layer |
| Pole | None (bare skin grip) | Sports bra + fitted shorts |
| Static trapeze | Backs of knees, hands callused | Leggings + fitted top + hand tape |
For deeper guidance on each kit, see our guide on aerial arts apparel.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.Aerial arts students come from three broad backgrounds. The first is the dance and gymnastics crossover crowd, athletes who want to extend their performance career into a new vocabulary. The second is the fitness-curious crowd, students who tried yoga and barre and want something more dramatic. The third is the pure-curiosity crowd, students who saw aerial in a Cirque show and signed up for an intro class.
The demographics skew female (roughly 80 to 90 percent at most studios) and concentrate in the 25 to 45 age range. Pole specifically attracts a wider age range and a stronger fitness-first demographic.
For studio owners, this matters because the audience is highly brand-loyal. Aerial students often train two to five times a week and stay with a studio for years. Branded apparel sales reflect that loyalty.
The traditional path was to order 50 to 100 screen-printed shirts a year, sit on the inventory, and slowly sell down. Most studios stopped doing this in the last three years as print-on-demand became viable for small businesses.
The current path is to open a print-on-demand shop with a free or low-cost plan, list five to eight products that span training, warm-up, and lifestyle, and earn a per-item profit on every student order. No inventory, no upfront cost.
Bear Grips Pro Shops was built specifically for small fitness studios. The free tier covers three live products at no monthly cost. The Self-Service VIP plan ($59 a month) unlocks 200 products at lower base prices.
For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide on aerial arts studio shop setup.
Open a free Pro Shop and earn $10 to $17 in profit per student order. No inventory, no minimums, no upfront cost.
Start FreeSilks uses two long fabric panels for wraps, climbs, and drops. Hammock ties the fabric into a wide sling that wraps the whole body, often used for restorative and aerial yoga work.
Yes. Pole is part of the aerial arts family, though it works on opposite apparel principles. Pole uses skin-to-pole friction for grip, so fitted shorts and sports bras are standard.
Most studios run a print-on-demand shop with branded tanks, leggings, hoodies, and tees. Profit is $10 to $17 per item with no inventory cost, typically earning $5,000 to $15,000 a year for a mid-sized studio.
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