Joan Murphy of Frame Fitness collaborates with Whistles

New Zealander Joan Murphy and her Frame fitness studio co-founder Pip Black know what women are looking for in sportswear, and are now collaborating with smart high street brand Whistles. “The whole collection is stuff you’d wear out. You feel as comfortable on the street as you would in the studio,” Murphy (pictured left) says.

The former advertising executives turned fitness entrepreneurs certainly know their audience. The pair – who met through mutual friends on a surfing trip in Cornwall in 2007 – founded their first studio in Shoreditch, London in 2009, and now have a second in Queen’s Park. There are plans for “several more” before the end of the year.

Everything is done with busy, working women in mind: from the pay-as-you-go business model, to the class duration (30 or 45 minutes), to the “forgot your kit” box in the studio. “Last Christmas, people used it because they didn’t want to carry sweaty gear out to the party,” Murphy says.

Frame’s is an accessible approach to fitness: classes are pitched at working women, regardless of age or fitness level, and the names are fun and knowing. “Bend it like Barbie”, “Bridal Bootcamp” and “Get Leggy” are staples on the Shoreditch calendar.

The collaboration with Whistles is their first sportswear collection. It’s a 13-piece collection of “street to studio” clothes.

If anyone can get London moving, these girls can.

Original article by Phoebe Luckhurst, London Evening Standard, May 28, 2015.

Photo by Rebecca Reid.