Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large
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| Rebecca and Tamal from Work Out Life |
Some people just seem to have it all sorted don't they? Rebecca Quade, founder of hot new lifestyle brand,
Work Out Life, has an exciting, ever expanding business, a new baby and is also a super-fit, qualified yoga instructor. She
could be held up as one of those have-it-all girls but when you speak to her, it's clear that it's not quite that simple. Quade has come a long way to get to where she is when I meet her at the yoga class she is hosting to show off Work Out Life's great range of exercise gear at Shoreditch House. She's flown in from LA which, yes, is a long way but what I really mean is that she has been on that journey from mega busy life running her own advertising company in Sydney to a kind of zen happy medium which involved yoga teacher training and this, her new venture. It's not like that huge change was really such a surprise though. Quade tells me "All through my twenties I was doing yoga and my friends were out partying, now all of a sudden they're interested in getting into yoga."
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| Rebecca helping out during the class |
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| Tamal's head stand |
Rebecca brought yoga teacher
Tamal Dodge- whose training course she completed after arriving in LA- along with her for the Work Out Life class. Tamal took us through a 45 minute Vinyasa Flow class which ended with a few minutes of enormously relaxing down time with Tamal singing to us and playing his guitar. Work Out Life put on some yummy health drinks and kitted us all out in our own Work Out Life gear. The afternoon summed up rather neatly the brand philosophy which is to try and make busy lives and exercise an easier blend to achieve. There is a big focus on the fashion element; the range is designed by Ebru Ercon, previously from Stella McCartney for Adidas. Quade tells me that she didn't want people to think her concept was about "some girl who thought she knew about designing clothes". The collection is split into three moods- the "work" which focuses on hard-working gym clothes for high impact sport, "life" which should take you from yoga class to coffee and "out" which is targeted at easy pieces for down time and travelling. It all fits nicely into Quade's own lifestyle which involves plenty of travel, exercise and general multitasking.
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| Oh dear, really need to work on my 90 degree leg bend in Warrior pose! |
Highlights from Work Out Life include
super comfortable and flattering floral printed leggings which I tested in the class as well as for my flight to NY last week. I also love the
all-in-one hot yoga suit (which I think would also be a great going out outfit too, if you're brave enough) and am told that the
running shorts are some of the best around. I also got one of the sliced out shoulder tops which I would happily wear every day, not just for exercising. Ebru and Rebecca have also created some
awesome jackets, highlights are the boxy wool style and the shiny bomber.
There's a longer term vision beyond the clothes range, although the site is already full of healthy living advice and tips. "I'd love one day for people to be able to check in to Work Out Life at whichever hotel they are staying in and do a yoga class we provide" Quade explains. Obviously it's a certain kind of woman who really lives the lifestyle which Work Out Life is kitting out. However it's part of something bigger which we can all get on board with. "Ten years ago you would never have got all these twenty-somethings into a yoga class" Quade observes, looking around at the assembled journalists and bloggers. "I think there's an undercurrent of knowing we need to be healthier" she adds. As a twenty something who takes my running and yoga quite seriously, I can totally identify with this. And stylish clothes to do it in make it all the more appealing.
GET INSPIRED WITH TAMAL
