Under a week to go until a BIG focal day in many people’s annual calendar, and if you’re anything like me you’ve left your seasonal gift shopping perilously late! Fear not, my dear disorganised reader, for here’s my snappily-titled “Christmas Eve Emergency Health & Fitness Top 10 Present Idea List” (phew!) which I whipped up for just such an eventuality – perhaps it’s one to send your other half for those last-minute ideas! So here we go, please Santa may I have… (more…)
Being a devout follower of Activewear trends (it’s been my daily ‘uniform’ for over a decade as a personal trainer), I relished the opportunity to visit PURE London a few weeks back. It’s the monster-scale Fashion Industry ‘trade show’ at London’s cavernous Olympia which, amongst other genres, showcases a tonne of new sportswear that’s about to hit the market! I sifted through over 700 brands, and this, my dear reader, is a quick and easy-to-digest roundup showcasing what I thought were the top 5 discoveries – these are brands to keep your eyes on over the next few months! Click MORE to see them all… (more…)
Back in 2004, the world was different; there was no social media or Kim Kardashian, no cold press juices or barre classes, and hardly anyone read blogs because almost nobody wrote them! Another astonishing absence was ‘activewear’; but in that year, for the first time a high fashion designer, Stella McCartney, announced her pioneering partnership with adidas. The belief was that ‘fitness’ and ‘fashion’ were more closely related than the world realised, and the combination would uniquely incorporate adidas’ technological, functional know-how with Stella’s beautiful and feminine silhouettes. 12 years on, we take for granted that women want stylish and functional sportswear – a trend coloured heavily by these early innovators! Yet adidas by Stella McCartney has always maintained a unique edgy aesthetic, whilst being high quality, and wonderfully distinctive. To me, it’s the perfect of example of a genuine partnership creating something that’s way more than just the sum of its parts. In LA this week, I was one of the lucky few who had the opportunity to interview the designer after her spectacular SS17 show which took place in West Hollywood. Click MORE to read about Stella’s view on ‘health’, ‘wellness’, the show, and how she goes about the design process! (more…)
Back in January 2015, I was thrilled to join my friends at adidas for the global launch of the UltraBOOST, which has since become the hottest casual running shoe in the world! Now, 18 months on, they’ve developed generation 2.0, the UltraBOOST Uncaged; a new and improved version which is a reaction to the way it was being custom modified by enthusiasts! As a self-confessed shoe fiend; I feel privileged to have been one of the first to road-test these as part of my ambassadorship with the company.
Growing up I was relentless in pleading with my parents for a pair of trainers! So, when I finally got hold of my long sought after Stan Smiths, I would cherish them and wear them every single day, until they were falling apart, but I didn’t care. I’m now working with the brand I have loved and admired from such a young age, and as corny as it may sound it really is a dream come true. I’ve always been heavily into sports and living a healthy life, and to work with a company with such a strong, complementary ethos is quite unbelievable! To me, adidas represents a passion for sport – functionality, style, quality; it speaks of so much heritage whilst constantly innovating and delivering new technology to further the athletes out there! Massive thank you to the adidas team for allowing me to channel my innermost excited 8-year-old sporty self! To kick off, this post is a collection of thoughts on the new shoe, as well as some pictures we shot on the marvellous Croisette in Cannes, along which I ran every morning to put my pair (in Ray Red camo) through their paces!
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I’m a big fan of Yoga as a holistic form of exercise for both body and mind, as you may have noticed from the multiple musings on this blog! In my quest to discover ever more of the intricate fabric that makes up the tapestry of the ‘Yogasphere’, I sought out Iyengar Yoga as an additional way to engage with this discipline. Whilst you may or may not have heard of the Iyengar variety, it’s thought to be one of the most commonly practiced forms of yoga in the western world. It was brought here by B.K.S. Iyengar and focuses on posture, technique as well as breathing and timing; for this reason, I find it somewhat of a meditative practise, and incredibly relaxing. This post talks about the discipline, and is shot outside one of my favourite studio spaces – The Iyengar Yoga Instutute, founded in 1984 where the man himself taught! I’m also taking the opportunity to highlight some of my favourite yoga kit of the moment, including these gorgeous Stance socks & this equally awesome Yoga Design Lab mat. Click MORE to see it all…
I just returned from a trip to Manhattan with Adidas for the launch of their new Ultra Boost shoe, alongside olympic titans Yohan Blake and Wilson Kipsang – an epic experience! This is a meaty ‘follow-on’ post from my trip to the company’s German HQ last year, and contains a behind the scenes view of the launch, my thoughts on the shoes, as well as an interview with Eric Liedtke (pictured with me above), who sits on the Adidas group board and is delivering their all-important ‘5 year plan’ in just 2 months time. It also has some of Adidas’ VP of Design for ‘Running’, Ben Herath’s thoughts too. I hope it gives you a good feel for what the company are up to right now, what they just launched, and what you’re going to see from them over the coming year! Read MORE…
I’ve wanted to share this awesome experience for a while now, but it’s been embargoed… until now! Earlier this year I was whisked away to visit the Adidas global HQ in Germany with 5 other bloggers from around the world, to view the upcoming ss15 collection, to style my favourite pieces and participate in a photoshoot featuring the clothes. Click MORE to get my insight into this fabulous head office, and see some of the clothes that will grace their stores in time for the next bout of warm weather!
We’re currently right in the middle of the holy trinity of global fashion weeks, and next week wraps up with ‘Milan’, arguably the fashion capital of the world. I was there very recently for blog meetings, and decided to go on an expedition through the sprawling streets in search of fitness fashion inspiration. I found far less than I’d imagined, which totally amazed me. In the era when fitness and mainstream fashion are unstoppably converging, with the activewear category literally growing at double the pace of broader UK general merchandise, the Milanese shop fronts did nothing to persuade me to dress ‘sporty chic’. Click MORE to see some of the discoveries I did make, along with some snaps from the stopover!
In this post, I’m in the heart of Soho, New York (on 45 Crosby street to be precise) at c. 6:30 am, soul searching… on a bicycle! SoulCycle is a class I’ve been meaning to try for ages, having seen countless friends & clients back in London rave about it. So here I am, a bit too excited to be booked in to the super-early-morning class (though theres one even earlier!), burdened with jet lag and crammed into a miniature studio along with a large group of seriously energetic pre-office New Yorkers. Here follows my review, but since guests aren’t permitted to take any photos inside the studio, I thought I’d include these amazing photos of the view of New York, all taken from the roof terrace of my stunning hotel, The Mondrian. I wore the lovely new collection from an old favourite, Striders Edge for my SoulCycle class, and a pair pink summery Asics trainers and for a cheeky drink on the terrace too! See more BELOW…
This post documents my own little ‘Moon Salutation’ sequence beside the Kasbah Tamadot’s pool on my trip to Morocco; a cooling and quieting session of nocturnal Yoga. I’ve always loved Yoga as a form of exercise for mind & body, but having not practiced for far too long, I felt like a true novice once again. On this silent, misty mountain night, I remembered why I love it so much. To my mind, Yoga is an ethos unto itself, and a way of life – the goal is to achieve total health rather than just an aesthetic result. Below is a collection of my 10 fave, basic yoga poses alongside some photos and notes to explain each movement briefly. In the past, I’ve found it a fabulous beginner’s routine to practise on a daily basis. For my session, I’m wearing some favourites from the Sweaty Betty’s spring/summer ‘yoga retreat’. Click here for more….
