Pop Up Kings Road

Once upon a time, the Kings Road was known for being a hotbed of counter-culture; fertile ground for start ups, fresh thinkers and bright young creatives. For the last decade or so, I would argue, it has provided more of a stable environment to some local mainstays - places like Heals, Jack Wills, plenty of the Parisian fashion brands... even the feisty Ad Hoc has been around for a while.

So when I saw Pop Up Britain had moved in at the World's End, I was pretty excited: time for some fresh (super fresh) talent. Pop Up Kings Road is a concept store with a fantastic premise - every 2 weeks, for a whole year, 10 fresh new start ups move into the space and start trading. It's a great opportunity for new British talent to find a platform, get a leg up and make a name for themselves, and makes sure the shop is a real destination for a whole year, as you never know what you'll find there next.

When I visited this Saturday, the first batch of start ups had just taken residence, and I was really impressed with what I saw. The selection of brands was really well curated, each company complementing, rather than competing, with one another, and a really high standard of design and creativity. What's more, most of the brands were offering introductory discounts, so you can get your hands on future classics for fantastic prices

The highlight for me had to be Pinucci shoes, who had a selection of the world's coolest flats, and I couldn't resist their black leather, snakeskin and taupe suede Sloane sneakers, down from £150 to just £60. I also loved the selection of pretty trinkets, clothes and homewares from The Gorgeous Company, edgy shades from Couth and my boyfriend picked up a super cool slapband watch (90s children, remember snap bands?! Cool right?!) from Clicloc. Everything on offer was highly original, covetable and just a little bit different from most of what's on offer on the rest of the King's Road, breathing a fresher, younger lease of life into what is usually the slightly 'tired' end of the street.

A fresh batch of traders arrived in store today, and I'm sure I'll be checking in every few weeks throughout the whole year. I can't think of a better way to support talented young British entrepreneurs, and I love the fact that every time you visit, there will be new and exciting brands to shop. You'll see at least a few faces this year who make it big in 2014 and beyond, guaranteed.

Pop Up Kings Road
387 Kings Road
Chelsea, London
SW10 0LR
www.popupbritain.com

Pictures from Pop Up Britain and retailweek.

Start the Transition

TRX. HIIT. What the ****?

Sarah and I will try most things in the spirit of getting fit losing weight, so when we got an invite from the lovely Claire at Transition Zone to find out what on earth these mysterious acronyms were all about, we leapt at the opportunity.

The brainnchild of Claire Finlay, a bubbly and expert trainer with over a decade's PT experience under her belt, Transition Zone is a Fulham gym with a difference. Set in a light and airy space on Sulivan Road, Claire encourages her clients to mix up their workout through a series of 30-55 minute classes, most based on the principle of high intensity interval training. Based on the oh-so-true insight that most of use tire of the same old workout routine (how many times have you heard that same spinning soundtrack?) and consequently let ourselves slip, Claire has devised a range of classes to challenge you and keep you on your toes (and off them!) and let you get the same results in just half an hour as you would having spent an hour bored silly on the X trainer. What's more, all the classes are in small groups (3-4 maximum) so you really reap the benefits
of the extra level of personal attention.

Transition Zone offers Power Plate, boxing, dynamic yoga, Pilates chair, personal training and the mysterious TRX - and Claire promises she's got plenty in the pipeline to keep her clients' workouts interesting. In for a penny, in for a pound, Sarah and I opted for the intriguing TRX/yoga fusion. Claire specialises in a dynamic style of yoga that really gets into you moving, stretching deeper and working those muscles. Being a fan of bikram and power yoga, I appreciated the more active style - you get the best of both worlds: feeling a little more limber AND like you're torching some calories. It's in situations like these, too, when the small class sizes really come into play. As you move from posture to posture quite quickly, it's essential that someone is able to keep an eye and spot check your postures to ensure you're getting the most out of the workout and not doing yourself any damage.

Half an hour, and just a small amount of perspiration later, we moved onto the TRX portion of the class. So, it turns out TRX is a suspension-style workout performed with a series of straps attached to a large metal frame. Battling against our bodyweights, Claire had us squat, stretch, dip, balance and bounce. With the focus on core strength, stability and flexibility this workout seriously packs a punch but the focus is very much on long and lean rather than bulky - plus, turns out throwing yourself around using a suspension system, lots of straps and the force of gravity is pretty fun!

Our session made Sarah and I (committed monotonous runners and spinners both) really think again about the way we exercised, and Claire is full of handy hints and advice, coupled with a deep and genuine passion for fitness. Transition Zone offers a fresh take on training, and offers something quite unique for the area - I'm sure it will be making plenty of other Fulham exercise zombies rethink their workouts over the coming months too.

If you'd like to try out Transition Zone for yourself, why not take advantage of the 10 day TRI? For just £50 you can try out unlimited classes for 10 days. Alternatively, all evening classes are currently just £15. You can book online here.

Transition Zone
Broomhouse Studios
Unit 1, 50 Sulivan Road
London SW 6 3DX
www.transitionzone.co.uk