About Christine

Christine began her career as a fashion designer in Sydney in the 1980s before working as a designer and project director for a company creating staff wardrobes for luxury hotel brands including Hyatt and Peninsula corporations globally from 1993-2006.

In 2008, Christine completed a PhD on the history and significance of the swimsuit, with a focus on the unique contribution of Annette Kellerman—an Australian long-distance swimmer, diver, vaudeville performer, silent movie star, and fitness writer. It was here she found her passion for fitness training methods.

Kellerman not only popularized the one-piece swimsuit but also made a lasting impact through her 1918 book, Physical Beauty: How to Keep It. The book offered movement exercises to be practiced at home, with an emphasis on breathing and strengthening the “muscular corset.” It was a concept that became the heart of Christine’s own book, The Swimsuit: Fashion from Poolside to Catwalk, published by Bloomsbury in 2013.

Christine’s commitment to exercise and health has spanned decades to manage complex medical conditions: from running with her father (a sports enthusiast who competed in marathons until his 60s) to reduce respiratory flare ups, to aerobics in the ’80s and ’90s. However, as someone also living with a chronic autoimmune form of arthritis, these forms of exercise became increasingly challenging.

It wasn’t until she discovered Joseph Pilates’ philosophy that she experienced a breakthrough. Echoing Kellerman’s focus on ‘all-round exercise’, Pilates offered full-body improvements in her respiratory efficiency, strength, posture, and flexibility. Interestingly, both Kellerman and Pilates had childhood illnesses that led them to pursue physical activities to improve their health which has always been Christine’s approach too.

Christine became an accredited ITC Pilates instructor in 2018, a culmination of 40 years of research and personal experience that highlights the profound connection between movement practices and wellness.