August 11, 2024 • 21 mins
Lorna Jane is nearing its 35th birthday, and the brands founder Lorna Clarkson is nearing her 60th. So to celebrate these milestones Toni chatted with Lorna about the beginnings of the brand, why she feels the activewear trend is only just beginning, and how she remains fit and healthy as she nears 60!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We need to Talk Conversations on wellness with cos FM's
Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello and welcome to We need to Talk. It's great
to have you with us. It's one of the most
beloved act of War brands in New Zealand. You only
have to look at groups of Kiwi women going for
a walk or at the gym and you're bound to
see the famous Lorna Jane logo, especially on those famous
tights that we all love. Laurna Clarkson is the woman
behind the uber successful business that is turning thirty five
(00:26):
this year and is an exemplary ambassador for the brand.
She's had six books published, including two cookbooks. Her motto
is you win the morning, you win the day, and
prides herself on having a simple yet effective health regime
that I cannot wait to hear all about, especially given
this is a woman who turns sixty this year and
still has a six pack, which we're all very jealous of. Lorna.
(00:48):
It's great to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yes, lovely to talk to you as well, Tony. And finally,
you should talk about our logo because I was talking,
you know, like when you hit this thirty five year mark.
I was talking to my husband who was this year
Launa Jane for so many years. He only stood down
like two years ago. We were talking about the logo
and I remember when I got a friend of mine
who was the graphic artist to actually come up with
(01:10):
the logo and we worked it out together and stuff,
and she sent me this bill and it was really
a lot of money for us at the time. I
think it was probably five thousand dollars, but that was
so much money. And I remember her saying, well, you know,
you could just pay me something which was really small
every time you use it. And I said, and I said,
what should we do? Bill? And we decided to pay
her the five thousand dollars or whatever it was. And
(01:30):
I'm so glad we did.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Can you imagine I cannot imagine what that would be
like right now? It would probably I mean, I'm glad
you Are you still friends with this person?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
No, she wasn't like a lifetime friend or something that
some just were in business. We knew someone between us then,
and she was Canadian and she went back to Canada,
so yeah, we lost touch. But yeah, I'm sure she
might think about it too every now and again.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, it must be quite a year of reflection for
you with the business turning thirty five, to think where
it all started and how far you've come and how
much it's changed. Do you think back to those early
days very often?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
No, I think this year has been the biggest time
because we've been talking about the thirty five years as
the brand, and we've had a few parties and but yeah,
it's that catch twenty two where you think, oh my god,
it just seems like yesterday that I was cutting patterns
on my dining room table and trying to convince people
that actively it was going to be a thing. And
then when you look back at all the achievements. My
(02:30):
dog is trying to get in the door when you look,
breaking his head through the glass. It's super cute.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
He knows that's a great chat.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It's not. But then when you look back at everything
you've done and all the challenges and all the achievements,
I feel like I've lived a million lifetimes. But I
guess what I'm most proud of is that the determination,
the consistency, the incredible team that I have the joy
(02:56):
to work with every day, and it just shows that
the craziest of dreams with someone that really knew nothing
about building a business. And if you had told me
that this business was going to be this size thirty
five years ago, I would have run for the hills,
like I would have said, no way, I cannot do
that because I couldn't. You know, I didn't have any
of the skills that I have now. But it just
(03:18):
shows that when you have determination, you have consistency, you
have a great team, that the craziest ideas with someone
who is really not built for business can come true.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Like you say, you're not built for business, but I
mean it's been pretty successful over the last thirty five years.
And you were a trailblazer in the sense of the
active weere term and we've talked about that before. But
one thing that surprises me is active where came in
and with such a row, but it is still as big,
if not bigger today And I can't believe we're in
(03:50):
a world now where it's acceptable for me to go
to events and my sneakers and more casual wear. And
I'm so thankful for that because it wouldn't I wouldn't
have dreamed of it even twenty years ago, to not
we heal sometimes and you're part of that, you've made
it cool to wear it in more formal settings, and
has that surprised you how it's taken on.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Active where was a vision that was really clear to
me from the very beginning. And you know, I've been
coined with being the first one to use that term
active with by media all over the world, so I'm
sure they've done their research for me. I was. It
was as simple as I was working in the fitness
industry and I was teaching classes running around in you know,
(04:34):
g string leotarzan Tits totally not acceptable in a shopping center,
so I couldn't really do any of my errands or
walk past the building side or anything like that, you know.
So it was me just creating something that I wanted
in my life. And then I saw how it changed
the women who in my classes, who asked me to
(04:54):
make it for them. It changed how they felt. My
vision was clear. I just wanted something that women could
put on, do their workouts in, but also live their
life in. And I called it active war because I
wanted her to put it on and be active. I
knew if I could design the right thing, it would
transform the way women lived our lives and that is
exactly what you're describing, you know, like I'm at work
(05:17):
and I'm in a tracksuit, you know what I mean.
But it's an elevated track sit and I feel comfortable
wearing it. I could wear this with a shoe or
a sneaker. So I couldn't have done this without the
momentum of all the other brands getting on board with
it as well. You know, I've never wanted to be
the biggest active with brand in the world. Just the
best between you and me.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Great strategy.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yes, it definitely gained momentum when the idea people started
seeing women wearing this type of thing and adapting it
to the normal life. So a lot of brands have
you contributed, but I am really proud to say that
I was the first.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, it's a great thing to have. I know, you
stay across all of the moving trens and you're seating trenes.
In the last say, two or three years, what have
you noticed an active weir? What is becoming popular? How
has it changed?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I think there's been a lot of change in technology,
Like there's definitely been the fabrics are getting better, the
types of products we can use for support, you know,
we have thermal leggings that feel like a normal legging,
but they trap the body heat against your legs and
keep you warm. They're very popular in New Zealand, Yes
they are. You know this whole trend of women wearing leggings,
(06:30):
you know, with a jacket and a shirt and wearing
it to work. I think the most common thing that
people ask me in an interview is how do you
compete with all the other Active were brands? And you
know what's going to happen and is it going to die?
And people think it's over, but I really know that
it's just the beginning and the casualization of fashion and
adapting to how women actually live their lives, you know,
(06:53):
actually the things they have to do, and you know
you can't do it in a pencil skirt and high heels.
You can't live your life like that. So I feel
like that's what's happening into Active where I feel like
it's just we're getting that hybrid of an actual pant
that possibly would look like something you would wear to work,
but it's in a technical fabric that wicks moisture or
(07:15):
keeps you warm or doesn't crease. I mean, who has
time for ironing.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
No, I don't iron at all.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, we don't. I just tuck it in a stand
up straight.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, that's exactly what I do. And I know
what you mean about those items that can go from
one thing to the other. And I love I've got
an example of my own, because I've got a pair
of your They're like the cargo kind of pants, the
black cargo pants that you've got, so I can wear
them to radio. Then I can wear them to do
all of my errands, and they're still appropriate to wear
when I coach my netball team in the afternoon. And
(07:45):
if that means I don't have to change, it's just well,
you don't have time. You don't have time to change anymore,
I think, because we're all doing so many different things.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But it also ticks the box Tony with sustainability. If
you can do so many things in a pair of
black legging or those pants you're talking about, or a
really cool zip up tracksuit that you know you can
wear the pants with a shirt. You know, I just
feel sustainability. And you know, the cost of living these days,
if we can spend less money on clothes by good
(08:14):
quality clothes that are adaptable across our lives. You know,
I just feel like it's not just what women want,
how they want to look, or how they want to
feel in their clothing. It's also all the other things
that are affecting her and her world at the moment.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
You're listening. Do we need a talk with Tony Street?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Look?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I know that you you have adapted what you've done
because you were in the fitness industry to start with, right,
But I feel like as time has gone on and
you are turning sixty this year, you have maintained such
a great physical appearance you can't you cannot go past it.
I mean I look at you here, and you do
(08:52):
not look like you're about to turn sixty. You do
look so fit and healthy and glowing. And I know
that you do this by consistency and you have a root,
but so many people want to know exactly what that
is and how it has changed now that you are
hitting into your sixties. Has it changed markedly?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Okay? So first of all, can you stop reminding me
that I'm sixty?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I know I feel bad. No, you should be happy
about it, because you don't even.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Look at No, I'm not, And you know I've really
gotten over. I think it was about forty five that
I got over the resistance to talk about my age,
because I really was resistant, and a journalist explained to
me that it gives people a benchmark to say, well,
by the time I'm forty or forty five, I could
have achieved this as well, you know, So I really
(09:36):
then understood that it was actually beneficial to talk about
it because it was a way of helping other people
or inspiring other people. So I was just joking when
I said, stopped finding me, So, yeah, what do I
do my morning routine? You're going to be really disappointed.
You're really are to be disappointed because my general life
routine and running this business and doing everything else to
(09:57):
stay fit and healthy and happy and getting that you
cannot get work life balance because you know, as soon
as you find it, it moves again. Everything's crazy, But
just trying to get some sort of resemblance of some
sort of balance at the end of every workday, I
look at the next day. So I'm really prepared. So
you know, last night I knew I had this interview
(10:20):
with me with you in the morning, and you know,
so I sort of read through a few things that
I knew we were going to talk about and then
I looked at the rest of my day and send
off any emails to my team, so I really clear
my head. So I really value sleep and relaxation. So
I am a little bit of a perfectionist, a little
bit over the top. So if I didn't do that,
(10:41):
I would be thinking about it all night and possibly
not you know, have a good night's sleep. So that's
really important to me, is to plan and look at
anything that I need to address the day before. In
the morning, I usually get up at five five point thirty.
This morning, it was five, and then I like to
have an hour before I train. I just not that
sort of person who wants to like rush into my
(11:02):
day because I feel like that sets me up for
the day. So, you know, I have some fruit. I
have like at the moment, I'm having like a I
went to a health retreat and they were having this
ginger lemon tea that's supposed to aid your digestion. So
I'm trying that out. You know. Usually I would have
had a coffee and then I go and I train
every day every morning. I'm not that I'm not that
(11:24):
good that I can say I'm going to do it
in the afternoon because things get busy and it will
just you know, be gone. So I train in the morning.
Pretty much. My regime is work out in the morning,
make sure I eat really good food, you know, like
I've got a really big sweet tooth. But I just
try to have natural sugars, all those sorts of things.
(11:44):
I have a bit of a system where I make
myself be positive every day. I'm fortunate enough that I
am naturally a positive person. I do look for the
best in people and the best in things. And you
tell me a problem, I've come up with a solution,
you know what I mean, or convince you to move
on if there is no solution. So but I make
sure I'm starting my day that way. Like if if
my husband, you know, because we always go for a
(12:06):
walk in the morning as well, after we've trained and
we talk about our day and that sort of thing.
If he starts throwing too many problems on me, I
just tell him to stop. But because I just don't
want to go into the day like that, you know.
And I manage my stress. I do quite a bit
of meditation, But to me, that's just like sitting and
breathing for five minutes. It's not a big deal that
I feel like a lot of people talk about in meditation.
(12:27):
I'm not into it that much. And as I said before,
I make sure I get enough sleep. I'm in bed
by nine point thirty, you know, and I might be reading,
i might be going to sleep, but I'm definitely in
bed ready to relax. I love red light therapy. If
anyone's like interested in skin, like, for me, it changed
my skin.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
How do I change it?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
It just makes it glow like I just feel like
and you know who it might be psychosomatic. Who knows
My friend eing Alice, like she does all the research,
She's incredible everything like that. So I always just said her,
what's the best red light mask? And then I get
you know what I.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Mean, what's the one you use by ad of interest.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Only luks not sponsored, yep, but incredible And at the
moment I'm trying out, They've got these special under eye
once because I feel like as I'm getting older, I'm
getting like, you know, I never used to have those
little bags under my eyes. So if you can visualize
this morning before I went training, I'm sitting there with
these little red light things in my eyes, like I
find it look good for you this morning.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It works.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But that's it really. During the week Bill and I
don't really go out for dinner or you know, I
don't really drink alcohol. I might have a margaar reader
of its special occasion with some friends on the weekend,
but we really do most of our socializing on the
weekend because we're really focused on our work. But yeah,
it's really simple. Work out every day, eat well, stay positive,
(13:47):
manage to stress, and get enough sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I just want to break down the working out because
a lot of the experts are physiologists. I've spoken to
lift tvy weights, lift tavy weights once you're over forty
and if you're in periminipause or minipause, it's very much
the advice. Now, is that what you do?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, I do. I've been. I've been strength training since
I was forty. And you know what, Tony, I wish
i'd started earlier being a fitness instructor. I was just
doing heaps of cardio and just eating whatever I wanted.
You know, I was pretty much exercising and so I
could eat everything, you know, and as I got older,
I realized that nutrition was such an and I wrote
(14:24):
two cookbooks about it. Like nutrition was just such an
important part of how you would feel every day and
how your body would actually function, your skin, all of
those things that when you're in your twenties, it's just
beautiful anyway, right, Like it just just comes naturally, but
you don't know that at the time. So then I
started caring all about what I what I ate, and
(14:45):
I feel like for me personally, when I do too
much cardio, it makes me crave the foods I shouldn't eat.
I don't know whether there's any real, you know, meaning
behind that, but that's just what happens to me. So
I started like doing more hiking and walking. I wait
train two to four times a week. I do two
sessions with the trainer, two on my own. I try
(15:06):
to get two or three yoga classes in I go
to a really great yoga studio, Environ, but they also
have an app so, you know, like Monday, I was
really busy and I thought I have to do something,
So I just did a half our yoga class, you know,
and my walk in the morning. To me, it's like,
just do something. It doesn't matter what you do, as
long as you do something, don't break the cycle. Plus,
I you know, tell myself, I'm terrible if I don't
(15:27):
do it anyway, So I'm not going to put up
with that all day.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, I love your theory about the cardio because I've
noticed that too, the more cardio I do, the hungrier
I give. Whereas that sort of lower, slower, steady state
doesn't seem to put you into that same adrenal system.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And I started noticing that when I was doing a
lot of yoga, and I went just for my own benefit.
I went to Bali and did a month's teacher training
in yoga. Like I lost like four kilos wow, And
I was eating a lot. It was just like it
was how it was making me feel, the choices I
was making with my food. It was also very hot,
I guess, but I put it all back on when
(16:02):
I got home, thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But anyway, back to the Australian weather, it's much nicer
the New Zealand's.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Anyway, I couldn't eat like because when I came back,
I thought, like, you know, I might try being a vegetarian.
See this is a thing, Like we'll talk in six
months and I've probably changed things a little bit. My
body is like a huge experiment for me. I will
try so many different things because I'm really interested in
human beings and how we react to things and bettering
(16:29):
myself or trying new things and seeing what happens. So, yeah,
when I came back to Australia, I thought, after Balley
because it was a full vegetarian diet, I thought, I
love this, I'm going to, you know, try it. But
I couldn't, like I didn't have the energy, I couldn't
tolerate the stress. You know, so horses for courses, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, now that we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I just want to go back to what you seed
about when you hit forty five you kind of went,
I'm fine with aging. What was that turnaround and how
did you get yourself into that mental space because a
lot of women really struggle with the aging process and
can't you know, almost accept that their body's changing and
their looks are different to what they were in their thirties.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I think, I think I've always been okay with aging.
I feel like, you know, I'm surrounded by I have
an older sister. My mom is such a beautiful, strong,
confident woman. Pretty much raised us on her own, and
my grandmother was an incredibly strong woman. And I just
I've never really put my value on how I look
(17:35):
all my age, and I feel like I've been appreciated
for what I do, like creating active where and running
a business, so I feel like my value isn't on
my looks. I've always been really comfortable with the aging.
It was just my resistance at forty five, or before
I was forty five, was to talk about it because
I was like, no one asked the man, how old
(17:55):
they are? Why are they asking me? You know, it's
my favorite side coming out. So it was more that,
But I guess my advice there would be to understand
and look for your value beyond your looks, your value
to your family, your value to the people you work with,
because I just feel like there's no possible way a
man would put his value on his looks as much
(18:17):
as women do.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
You're so absolutely right. And I was in an event
yesterday and we were talking about just that and how
there is a bit of an alarming trend with younger
women to change their faces very young. You know, you're
getting teenagers using botox and putting fillers in when they
are and their absolute prime. And that worries me about
because I've got a couple of young daughters and I think,
(18:39):
oh goodness me, you know, aren't they looking at what
they want to do with their lives as opposed to
just what they look like. I don't know how you
change that for the younger people coming through any ideas on.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That, No, I just think it's conversations or for me,
for me and things that I've watched in I mean,
I don't have children, but my friends have children watching
them grow up, especially the girls. Is that if you
give them something they value more than their appearance, like
if they're really great at soccer or you know, my
niece is a really successful jeweler, but before that, she
(19:12):
was taking photographs and I had her working for me
and it was all about her art rather than what
she looked like. I feel like that, So you just
need something else, you know, Like how do you keep
kids on social media? Get them into sport, you know,
or get them into something else it gets them. How
do you get them outdoors, like, you know, create something
that they love that they have to be outdoors for.
(19:32):
I think it's just giving them alternatives. I feel like
if you fall in love with something, then you're just
going to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah. Like, great piece of advice there, Laura. It's been
so great to talk to you. I would like to
end by just asking what is the hot trend or
hot colors that we might see. I mean, we're in
the depths of winter hear at the moment, but hoping
to get into some lovely, vibrant items as we head
towards summer. Is there anything you can tell us in
terms of trends that we should be looking out for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Oh, you know, I'm not supposed to do this, but
if you could see the other side of this, it's
all like the line sheets of everything that's coming in
for the new season. So yes, at Lona Jane, we
always do color for summer because I feel like it
really does have a positive effect on your mood. But
we've got some really great prints we're doing, Like florals
are definitely coming back. There's a beautiful shade of lemon
(20:24):
called buttermilk, like you might be starting to see it
coming through in the US and overseas. But that's going
to be huge. Tennis skirts like that, Tennis Core is
going to be back with oversized T shirts in that
sort of versatility of how you dress. We're really doing
some really cute things that you could like sets that
(20:44):
you can lounge around in, but you know, you could
also wear them to bed. They're that comfortable, that sort
of thing. We've got swimwear where you can work out
in it and then jump into the ocean, so those
real swim to gym active sets. So we're really trying
to give women that versatility. But yeah, lots of color.
The animal prints still going to be there, so we're
(21:05):
going to put that leopard. Don't stray too far from Leopard.
We've got Gingham coming in, which is really really cute.
But yeah, it's going to be a really really bright,
fun summer. And for all those people that love our
flash dance pants because they are pretty iconic, we actually
have a flash dance miniskirt coming in. Ooh, I know,
I was super excited about that one.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That's incentive to go and get some lunges and squats
going ahead of summer.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Isn't it a lovely exactly?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Oh well, Lorna, thank you so much again. It's such
a pleasure to talk to you. Love to seeing you
when you're here in New Zealand and I hear a
whisper you might be back next year, so look forward
to them.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
My pleasure. Thanks for having me and I'll see you
next year.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yeah, we need to talk with Coasting themes Tony Street.
If you enjoyed the podcast, click to share with family
or friends. To get in touch, email we need to
talk at Coast online, dot co dot m z
We need to Talk Conversations on wellness with cos FM's
Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello and welcome to We need to Talk. It's great
to have you with us. It's one of the most
beloved act of War brands in New Zealand. You only
have to look at groups of Kiwi women going for
a walk or at the gym and you're bound to
see the famous Lorna Jane logo, especially on those famous
tights that we all love. Laurna Clarkson is the woman
behind the uber successful business that is turning thirty five
(00:26):
this year and is an exemplary ambassador for the brand.
She's had six books published, including two cookbooks. Her motto
is you win the morning, you win the day, and
prides herself on having a simple yet effective health regime
that I cannot wait to hear all about, especially given
this is a woman who turns sixty this year and
still has a six pack, which we're all very jealous of. Lorna.
(00:48):
It's great to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yes, lovely to talk to you as well, Tony. And finally,
you should talk about our logo because I was talking,
you know, like when you hit this thirty five year mark.
I was talking to my husband who was this year
Launa Jane for so many years. He only stood down
like two years ago. We were talking about the logo
and I remember when I got a friend of mine
who was the graphic artist to actually come up with
(01:10):
the logo and we worked it out together and stuff,
and she sent me this bill and it was really
a lot of money for us at the time. I
think it was probably five thousand dollars, but that was
so much money. And I remember her saying, well, you know,
you could just pay me something which was really small
every time you use it. And I said, and I said,
what should we do? Bill? And we decided to pay
her the five thousand dollars or whatever it was. And
(01:30):
I'm so glad we did.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Can you imagine I cannot imagine what that would be
like right now? It would probably I mean, I'm glad
you Are you still friends with this person?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
No, she wasn't like a lifetime friend or something that
some just were in business. We knew someone between us then,
and she was Canadian and she went back to Canada,
so yeah, we lost touch. But yeah, I'm sure she
might think about it too every now and again.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, it must be quite a year of reflection for
you with the business turning thirty five, to think where
it all started and how far you've come and how
much it's changed. Do you think back to those early
days very often?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
No, I think this year has been the biggest time
because we've been talking about the thirty five years as
the brand, and we've had a few parties and but yeah,
it's that catch twenty two where you think, oh my god,
it just seems like yesterday that I was cutting patterns
on my dining room table and trying to convince people
that actively it was going to be a thing. And
then when you look back at all the achievements. My
(02:30):
dog is trying to get in the door when you look,
breaking his head through the glass. It's super cute.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
He knows that's a great chat.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It's not. But then when you look back at everything
you've done and all the challenges and all the achievements,
I feel like I've lived a million lifetimes. But I
guess what I'm most proud of is that the determination,
the consistency, the incredible team that I have the joy
(02:56):
to work with every day, and it just shows that
the craziest of dreams with someone that really knew nothing
about building a business. And if you had told me
that this business was going to be this size thirty
five years ago, I would have run for the hills,
like I would have said, no way, I cannot do
that because I couldn't. You know, I didn't have any
of the skills that I have now. But it just
(03:18):
shows that when you have determination, you have consistency, you
have a great team, that the craziest ideas with someone
who is really not built for business can come true.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Like you say, you're not built for business, but I
mean it's been pretty successful over the last thirty five years.
And you were a trailblazer in the sense of the
active weere term and we've talked about that before. But
one thing that surprises me is active where came in
and with such a row, but it is still as big,
if not bigger today And I can't believe we're in
(03:50):
a world now where it's acceptable for me to go
to events and my sneakers and more casual wear. And
I'm so thankful for that because it wouldn't I wouldn't
have dreamed of it even twenty years ago, to not
we heal sometimes and you're part of that, you've made
it cool to wear it in more formal settings, and
has that surprised you how it's taken on.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Active where was a vision that was really clear to
me from the very beginning. And you know, I've been
coined with being the first one to use that term
active with by media all over the world, so I'm
sure they've done their research for me. I was. It
was as simple as I was working in the fitness
industry and I was teaching classes running around in you know,
(04:34):
g string leotarzan Tits totally not acceptable in a shopping center,
so I couldn't really do any of my errands or
walk past the building side or anything like that, you know.
So it was me just creating something that I wanted
in my life. And then I saw how it changed
the women who in my classes, who asked me to
(04:54):
make it for them. It changed how they felt. My
vision was clear. I just wanted something that women could
put on, do their workouts in, but also live their
life in. And I called it active war because I
wanted her to put it on and be active. I
knew if I could design the right thing, it would
transform the way women lived our lives and that is
exactly what you're describing, you know, like I'm at work
(05:17):
and I'm in a tracksuit, you know what I mean.
But it's an elevated track sit and I feel comfortable
wearing it. I could wear this with a shoe or
a sneaker. So I couldn't have done this without the
momentum of all the other brands getting on board with
it as well. You know, I've never wanted to be
the biggest active with brand in the world. Just the
best between you and me.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Great strategy.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yes, it definitely gained momentum when the idea people started
seeing women wearing this type of thing and adapting it
to the normal life. So a lot of brands have
you contributed, but I am really proud to say that
I was the first.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, it's a great thing to have. I know, you
stay across all of the moving trens and you're seating trenes.
In the last say, two or three years, what have
you noticed an active weir? What is becoming popular? How
has it changed?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I think there's been a lot of change in technology,
Like there's definitely been the fabrics are getting better, the
types of products we can use for support, you know,
we have thermal leggings that feel like a normal legging,
but they trap the body heat against your legs and
keep you warm. They're very popular in New Zealand, Yes
they are. You know this whole trend of women wearing leggings,
(06:30):
you know, with a jacket and a shirt and wearing
it to work. I think the most common thing that
people ask me in an interview is how do you
compete with all the other Active were brands? And you
know what's going to happen and is it going to die?
And people think it's over, but I really know that
it's just the beginning and the casualization of fashion and
adapting to how women actually live their lives, you know,
(06:53):
actually the things they have to do, and you know
you can't do it in a pencil skirt and high heels.
You can't live your life like that. So I feel
like that's what's happening into Active where I feel like
it's just we're getting that hybrid of an actual pant
that possibly would look like something you would wear to work,
but it's in a technical fabric that wicks moisture or
(07:15):
keeps you warm or doesn't crease. I mean, who has
time for ironing.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
No, I don't iron at all.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, we don't. I just tuck it in a stand
up straight.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, that's exactly what I do. And I know
what you mean about those items that can go from
one thing to the other. And I love I've got
an example of my own, because I've got a pair
of your They're like the cargo kind of pants, the
black cargo pants that you've got, so I can wear
them to radio. Then I can wear them to do
all of my errands, and they're still appropriate to wear
when I coach my netball team in the afternoon. And
(07:45):
if that means I don't have to change, it's just well,
you don't have time. You don't have time to change anymore,
I think, because we're all doing so many different things.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But it also ticks the box Tony with sustainability. If
you can do so many things in a pair of
black legging or those pants you're talking about, or a
really cool zip up tracksuit that you know you can
wear the pants with a shirt. You know, I just
feel sustainability. And you know, the cost of living these days,
if we can spend less money on clothes by good
(08:14):
quality clothes that are adaptable across our lives. You know,
I just feel like it's not just what women want,
how they want to look, or how they want to
feel in their clothing. It's also all the other things
that are affecting her and her world at the moment.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
You're listening. Do we need a talk with Tony Street?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Look?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I know that you you have adapted what you've done
because you were in the fitness industry to start with, right,
But I feel like as time has gone on and
you are turning sixty this year, you have maintained such
a great physical appearance you can't you cannot go past it.
I mean I look at you here, and you do
(08:52):
not look like you're about to turn sixty. You do
look so fit and healthy and glowing. And I know
that you do this by consistency and you have a root,
but so many people want to know exactly what that
is and how it has changed now that you are
hitting into your sixties. Has it changed markedly?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Okay? So first of all, can you stop reminding me
that I'm sixty?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I know I feel bad. No, you should be happy
about it, because you don't even.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Look at No, I'm not, And you know I've really
gotten over. I think it was about forty five that
I got over the resistance to talk about my age,
because I really was resistant, and a journalist explained to
me that it gives people a benchmark to say, well,
by the time I'm forty or forty five, I could
have achieved this as well, you know, So I really
(09:36):
then understood that it was actually beneficial to talk about
it because it was a way of helping other people
or inspiring other people. So I was just joking when
I said, stopped finding me, So, yeah, what do I
do my morning routine? You're going to be really disappointed.
You're really are to be disappointed because my general life
routine and running this business and doing everything else to
(09:57):
stay fit and healthy and happy and getting that you
cannot get work life balance because you know, as soon
as you find it, it moves again. Everything's crazy, But
just trying to get some sort of resemblance of some
sort of balance at the end of every workday, I
look at the next day. So I'm really prepared. So
you know, last night I knew I had this interview
(10:20):
with me with you in the morning, and you know,
so I sort of read through a few things that
I knew we were going to talk about and then
I looked at the rest of my day and send
off any emails to my team, so I really clear
my head. So I really value sleep and relaxation. So
I am a little bit of a perfectionist, a little
bit over the top. So if I didn't do that,
(10:41):
I would be thinking about it all night and possibly
not you know, have a good night's sleep. So that's
really important to me, is to plan and look at
anything that I need to address the day before. In
the morning, I usually get up at five five point thirty.
This morning, it was five, and then I like to
have an hour before I train. I just not that
sort of person who wants to like rush into my
(11:02):
day because I feel like that sets me up for
the day. So, you know, I have some fruit. I
have like at the moment, I'm having like a I
went to a health retreat and they were having this
ginger lemon tea that's supposed to aid your digestion. So
I'm trying that out. You know. Usually I would have
had a coffee and then I go and I train
every day every morning. I'm not that I'm not that
(11:24):
good that I can say I'm going to do it
in the afternoon because things get busy and it will
just you know, be gone. So I train in the morning.
Pretty much. My regime is work out in the morning,
make sure I eat really good food, you know, like
I've got a really big sweet tooth. But I just
try to have natural sugars, all those sorts of things.
(11:44):
I have a bit of a system where I make
myself be positive every day. I'm fortunate enough that I
am naturally a positive person. I do look for the
best in people and the best in things. And you
tell me a problem, I've come up with a solution,
you know what I mean, or convince you to move
on if there is no solution. So but I make
sure I'm starting my day that way. Like if if
my husband, you know, because we always go for a
(12:06):
walk in the morning as well, after we've trained and
we talk about our day and that sort of thing.
If he starts throwing too many problems on me, I
just tell him to stop. But because I just don't
want to go into the day like that, you know.
And I manage my stress. I do quite a bit
of meditation, But to me, that's just like sitting and
breathing for five minutes. It's not a big deal that
I feel like a lot of people talk about in meditation.
(12:27):
I'm not into it that much. And as I said before,
I make sure I get enough sleep. I'm in bed
by nine point thirty, you know, and I might be reading,
i might be going to sleep, but I'm definitely in
bed ready to relax. I love red light therapy. If
anyone's like interested in skin, like, for me, it changed
my skin.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
How do I change it?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
It just makes it glow like I just feel like
and you know who it might be psychosomatic. Who knows
My friend eing Alice, like she does all the research,
She's incredible everything like that. So I always just said her,
what's the best red light mask? And then I get
you know what I.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Mean, what's the one you use by ad of interest.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Only luks not sponsored, yep, but incredible And at the
moment I'm trying out, They've got these special under eye
once because I feel like as I'm getting older, I'm
getting like, you know, I never used to have those
little bags under my eyes. So if you can visualize
this morning before I went training, I'm sitting there with
these little red light things in my eyes, like I
find it look good for you this morning.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It works.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But that's it really. During the week Bill and I
don't really go out for dinner or you know, I
don't really drink alcohol. I might have a margaar reader
of its special occasion with some friends on the weekend,
but we really do most of our socializing on the
weekend because we're really focused on our work. But yeah,
it's really simple. Work out every day, eat well, stay positive,
(13:47):
manage to stress, and get enough sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I just want to break down the working out because
a lot of the experts are physiologists. I've spoken to
lift tvy weights, lift tavy weights once you're over forty
and if you're in periminipause or minipause, it's very much
the advice. Now, is that what you do?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, I do. I've been. I've been strength training since
I was forty. And you know what, Tony, I wish
i'd started earlier being a fitness instructor. I was just
doing heaps of cardio and just eating whatever I wanted.
You know, I was pretty much exercising and so I
could eat everything, you know, and as I got older,
I realized that nutrition was such an and I wrote
(14:24):
two cookbooks about it. Like nutrition was just such an
important part of how you would feel every day and
how your body would actually function, your skin, all of
those things that when you're in your twenties, it's just
beautiful anyway, right, Like it just just comes naturally, but
you don't know that at the time. So then I
started caring all about what I what I ate, and
(14:45):
I feel like for me personally, when I do too
much cardio, it makes me crave the foods I shouldn't eat.
I don't know whether there's any real, you know, meaning
behind that, but that's just what happens to me. So
I started like doing more hiking and walking. I wait
train two to four times a week. I do two
sessions with the trainer, two on my own. I try
(15:06):
to get two or three yoga classes in I go
to a really great yoga studio, Environ, but they also
have an app so, you know, like Monday, I was
really busy and I thought I have to do something,
So I just did a half our yoga class, you know,
and my walk in the morning. To me, it's like,
just do something. It doesn't matter what you do, as
long as you do something, don't break the cycle. Plus,
I you know, tell myself, I'm terrible if I don't
(15:27):
do it anyway, So I'm not going to put up
with that all day.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, I love your theory about the cardio because I've
noticed that too, the more cardio I do, the hungrier
I give. Whereas that sort of lower, slower, steady state
doesn't seem to put you into that same adrenal system.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And I started noticing that when I was doing a
lot of yoga, and I went just for my own benefit.
I went to Bali and did a month's teacher training
in yoga. Like I lost like four kilos wow, And
I was eating a lot. It was just like it
was how it was making me feel, the choices I
was making with my food. It was also very hot,
I guess, but I put it all back on when
(16:02):
I got home, thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But anyway, back to the Australian weather, it's much nicer
the New Zealand's.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Anyway, I couldn't eat like because when I came back,
I thought, like, you know, I might try being a vegetarian.
See this is a thing, Like we'll talk in six
months and I've probably changed things a little bit. My
body is like a huge experiment for me. I will
try so many different things because I'm really interested in
human beings and how we react to things and bettering
(16:29):
myself or trying new things and seeing what happens. So, yeah,
when I came back to Australia, I thought, after Balley
because it was a full vegetarian diet, I thought, I
love this, I'm going to, you know, try it. But
I couldn't, like I didn't have the energy, I couldn't
tolerate the stress. You know, so horses for courses, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, now that we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I just want to go back to what you seed
about when you hit forty five you kind of went,
I'm fine with aging. What was that turnaround and how
did you get yourself into that mental space because a
lot of women really struggle with the aging process and
can't you know, almost accept that their body's changing and
their looks are different to what they were in their thirties.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I think, I think I've always been okay with aging.
I feel like, you know, I'm surrounded by I have
an older sister. My mom is such a beautiful, strong,
confident woman. Pretty much raised us on her own, and
my grandmother was an incredibly strong woman. And I just
I've never really put my value on how I look
(17:35):
all my age, and I feel like I've been appreciated
for what I do, like creating active where and running
a business, so I feel like my value isn't on
my looks. I've always been really comfortable with the aging.
It was just my resistance at forty five, or before
I was forty five, was to talk about it because
I was like, no one asked the man, how old
(17:55):
they are? Why are they asking me? You know, it's
my favorite side coming out. So it was more that,
But I guess my advice there would be to understand
and look for your value beyond your looks, your value
to your family, your value to the people you work with,
because I just feel like there's no possible way a
man would put his value on his looks as much
(18:17):
as women do.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
You're so absolutely right. And I was in an event
yesterday and we were talking about just that and how
there is a bit of an alarming trend with younger
women to change their faces very young. You know, you're
getting teenagers using botox and putting fillers in when they
are and their absolute prime. And that worries me about
because I've got a couple of young daughters and I think,
(18:39):
oh goodness me, you know, aren't they looking at what
they want to do with their lives as opposed to
just what they look like. I don't know how you
change that for the younger people coming through any ideas on.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That, No, I just think it's conversations or for me,
for me and things that I've watched in I mean,
I don't have children, but my friends have children watching
them grow up, especially the girls. Is that if you
give them something they value more than their appearance, like
if they're really great at soccer or you know, my
niece is a really successful jeweler, but before that, she
(19:12):
was taking photographs and I had her working for me
and it was all about her art rather than what
she looked like. I feel like that, So you just
need something else, you know, Like how do you keep
kids on social media? Get them into sport, you know,
or get them into something else it gets them. How
do you get them outdoors, like, you know, create something
that they love that they have to be outdoors for.
(19:32):
I think it's just giving them alternatives. I feel like
if you fall in love with something, then you're just
going to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah. Like, great piece of advice there, Laura. It's been
so great to talk to you. I would like to
end by just asking what is the hot trend or
hot colors that we might see. I mean, we're in
the depths of winter hear at the moment, but hoping
to get into some lovely, vibrant items as we head
towards summer. Is there anything you can tell us in
terms of trends that we should be looking out for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Oh, you know, I'm not supposed to do this, but
if you could see the other side of this, it's
all like the line sheets of everything that's coming in
for the new season. So yes, at Lona Jane, we
always do color for summer because I feel like it
really does have a positive effect on your mood. But
we've got some really great prints we're doing, Like florals
are definitely coming back. There's a beautiful shade of lemon
(20:24):
called buttermilk, like you might be starting to see it
coming through in the US and overseas. But that's going
to be huge. Tennis skirts like that, Tennis Core is
going to be back with oversized T shirts in that
sort of versatility of how you dress. We're really doing
some really cute things that you could like sets that
(20:44):
you can lounge around in, but you know, you could
also wear them to bed. They're that comfortable, that sort
of thing. We've got swimwear where you can work out
in it and then jump into the ocean, so those
real swim to gym active sets. So we're really trying
to give women that versatility. But yeah, lots of color.
The animal prints still going to be there, so we're
(21:05):
going to put that leopard. Don't stray too far from Leopard.
We've got Gingham coming in, which is really really cute.
But yeah, it's going to be a really really bright,
fun summer. And for all those people that love our
flash dance pants because they are pretty iconic, we actually
have a flash dance miniskirt coming in. Ooh, I know,
I was super excited about that one.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That's incentive to go and get some lunges and squats
going ahead of summer.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Isn't it a lovely exactly?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Oh well, Lorna, thank you so much again. It's such
a pleasure to talk to you. Love to seeing you
when you're here in New Zealand and I hear a
whisper you might be back next year, so look forward
to them.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
My pleasure. Thanks for having me and I'll see you
next year.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yeah, we need to talk with Coasting themes Tony Street.
If you enjoyed the podcast, click to share with family
or friends. To get in touch, email we need to
talk at Coast online, dot co dot m z
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