On a Sunday morning at New Farm Park, Keisha Love is busily prepping to host a fortnightly free Pilates class.
By 7.15am the park is full of chattering participants setting up their yoga mats.
Love came up with the idea after noticing an influx of social-run clubs popping up across the city.
Keisha Love started Pil Lattes because she wanted to bring together a community of like-minded individuals.Credit: Silk Lens Studio
She was intrigued by the concept, but not so keen on the running element – and so her Pilates social club was born.
The name is a play on the words Pilates and lattes, “two things that Brisbaners love”, she explains.
“I just thought Pil Lattes was a fun name.”
Love apologises for being awkward on camera during our interview.
But 15 minutes later she greets a crowd of almost 300 enthusiasts with confidence, with any awkwardness melting away.
Love’s day job is teaching Pilates, cycle and ballet barre at TotalFusion.
Before moving into the world of fitness instructing, Love was a dancer – and says it feels like a natural progression. “I love a stage, a group energy.”
Pil Lattes is on every fortnight at New Farm Park.Credit: Ange Lewis Photography
At New Farm Park, the Pilates mat workout is humbling. (When it gets too much, this journalist takes the opportunity to have a break and “capture content”.)
The size of the class – and its synchronised movement in the green space against the stunning Brisbane skyline – is a sight to behold.
Passersby marvel at the hundreds of people working out together, some probably mentally signing up for the next class.
Hundreds gather for the fortnightly Pil Lattes gathering.Credit: Neesha Sinnya
From passion project to fortnightly tradition
The tradition started five months ago, after Love posted about it on TikTok.
“When I first started I really thought I’d be dragging along my friends and my family each week to build up that hype for it,” she says.
“But a post just went viral on TikTok and I got quite a bit of traction from the get-go.
“It really solidified for me that it’s a want and a need for Brisbane and something people would really enjoy.”
What Love described as her “passion project” almost immediately garnered a fan base of like-minded people seeking connection.
Her first video on the Pil Lattes TikTok page has been watched more than 14,800 times.
In a follow-up post, Love admits the response blew her away.
“When I kept seeing all those registrations rolling in, I had a mini-panic at one point, like, ‘Oh my god, this is so many people,’” she says in the video.
Now Love usually hosts about 200 participants, with as many as 500 showing up bright and early for the Sunday morning class.
Many people ask why the classes are free, when regular mat Pilates classes at gyms in the New Farm area can be $25 or more.
Pil Lattes members start their Sunday mornings right with a fitness session in the sunshine.Credit: Silk Lens Studio
That’s where Love’s ethos of accessible fitness comes into play.
“It’s about removing barriers for entry, creating a space that’s welcoming for everyone,” she says.
What’s next for Pil Lattes?
Love wants the club to continue to grow, and even to become a destination for people visiting Brisbane.
“I think that we could hit a Guinness world record one day,” she says. “I’d love to fill out Suncorp Stadium for a huge Pilates event.”
The record for the largest Pilates demonstration was set by 3486 participants in Denizli, Turkey, in 2013.
“That would be the goal.”
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