Live the Process founder Robyn Berkeley on inspiration, movement, and creating apparel that transitions seamlessly from a workout to the street.
Robyn Berkeley founded her company, Live the Process, for herself. She was on a healing journey, having left her job to pursue a yoga teacher training in Bali. As she looked for pieces to wear, she found nothing that spoke to her. “I wanted something elegant, feminine, and soft but also with a strong aesthetic, that married activewear with actual fashion.” She didn’t want it to look like workout clothing, she says, but to have all of the properties that people would seek in fitness apparel. In short, she explains, “If I don’t want to wear it, I don’t want to create it.”
Live the Process launched at the Shop last year in the Hamptons and in select Clubs. With unique silhouettes, soft fabrications, and sophisticated style the line can transition from studio to street effortlessly.
We spoke to Robyn about inspiration, the future of the brand, and the influence of movement:
How has movement influenced your work?
I grew up doing dance and gymnastics. As you get older, those kinds of movements get lost from your life if you’re not a professional, so returning to that adds a playful element. And so [with the brand], it was sort of the reasoning of ‘You can go back to that moment in your life, remember how you felt, and translate that into the now.”
The basis for all of this was about wearing something that made you feel empowered. So much of movement is confidence.
Can you talk about the relationship between the physical and the emotional and how that impacts Live the Process?
The pillars of our brand are physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. We started out as a content site. We were always about creating a collection, but we wanted to have a really strong foreground about what the ethos of the company was. We wanted to explore how to incorporate all our idealism into something tangible that you wear.
We consider “the workout within.” It’s important to focus on the inside. You can’t just create a physical experience, wellness is how you live and how you exist overall.
We are constantly evolving and in development, layering and exploring what you need to keep everything in balance. We look at things through the lens of “how can you be intentional? How can you live your life? Is this going to wear well?”
What makes you feel most creative?
Being disconnected and traveling. Creativity happens all the time, when you least expect it. I find it through art, travel, architecture, vintage dance costumes and gear and, of course, color. I was just in Morocco, for example, and seeing so many things handcrafted was really inspiring. I’m always scouring destinations or new healing modalities or people who are creating things that are different from the mainstream.
What do you see for the future?
We are trying to be as sustainable as possible. We are constantly growing and changing. 3-4 years ago, we created a knitwear business and now that’s become 50% of the collection. We are creating more of an experiential lifestyle brand and developing content around themes. We’re doing speaker series and movement experiences as well.