Spanx founder buys Olivia Newton-John's 'Grease' pants, says they were inspiration for legging line
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The founder of Spanx is hopelessly devoted to Olivia Newton-John’s pants.
Sara Blakely, who founded the shapewear brand in 2000, has revealed herself as the new owner of the skintight satin pants Olivia Newton-John famously wore while portraying Sandy Olsson in the 1978 film adaptation of “Grease.”
The pants, along with the leather jacket that Newton-John wore during the finale of "Grease," were auctioned off on Saturday for $162,500 and $243,200, respectively. (Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The pants, along with the leather jacket that Newton-John wore during the finale of the film, were auctioned off on Saturday for $162,500 and $243,200, respectively. The items were among hundreds up for bid from the personal collection of Newton-John, 71, who was selling the pieces in an effort to raise money for her Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Australia.
Blakely revealed herself as the winning bidder of the pants — as well as one of the film’s Pink Ladies jackets — on “CBS This Morning,” where she claimed she intends to frame the pants in the Spanx headquarters in Atlanta.
“I have been the biggest fan of Olivia since I was a little girl, since ‘Grease’ came out,” Blakely said, explaining that as soon as a friend told her the pants were up for bid, she knew she had to get them.
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“I’m gonna frame them, and hang then at Spanx, because we have black faux leather leggings … they have become a cult following, and they’re inspired off of Olivia’s pants,” she added, while modeling a pair of the black Spanx leggings herself.
“I had to own them as the Spanx founder.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Blakely added that she had even hired Newton-John, whom she called “the O.G. of black leggings,” to sing at her wedding over a decade ago.
Sara Blakely, who founded Spanx in 2000, is planning on framing the pants at the company's headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
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Newton-John, who has battled breast cancer three times since 1992, set up the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.