Ciara Palfreyman
After one of its strongest quarters this year, MP Activewear is seeing more customers buying into the category than ever before, quickly establishing itself as one of Myprotein’s most high-growth spaces.
For Womenswear Designer Joe, that success comes down to a design approach that goes beyond trends alone, instead responding to how the community trains, moves and lives. From this year’s launches of the Valentine’s Day and Tempo Hybrid collections, he breaks down the design process and the storytelling behind their latest edits.
Can you tell us about your role within the MP Activewear womenswear team and what a typical design process looks like for you?
Within design, the process each season is a continuous cycle of research, exploration, and refinement that blends creativity with performance and functional driven thinking. It begins with primary and secondary research, analysing market trends, consumer behaviour, and cultural influences, alongside hands on inspiration shopping to understand what is resonating commercially and aesthetically within the market.
We often immerse ourselves in new or emerging workout disciplines to experience garments in motion and therefore gaining insight into functionality, comfort, and technical requirements. These inputs inspire the evolution of our colour palettes, fabric innovation, and silhouette direction, ensuring that each collection responds to both trend and purpose. From concept development through to sampling and wear testing, the process is highly interactive, balancing style with performance to create pieces that feel both relevant and functional for the modern active consumer at MP.
What inspires the collections - are you led more by performance needs, trend insights, or community feedback?
Our collections are shaped by a balance of all three factors, performance needs, trend insights and community feedback rather than one single driver. Performance is always the foundation, ensuring every piece functions seamlessly in movement, while trend research influences the aesthetic and visual direction of the range, from colour to silhouette.
Equally, listening to our community provides real primary insights into how products are worn and what customers truly value. This allows us to refine and evolve each collection in a way that feels both relevant and purposeful. We work closely with the wider teams to get in front of both our ambassadors and consumers as much as possible, this enables the design team to not only listen to constructive feedback but action it and make a real difference to our customer experience, making real changes that solve and suit the demand of the product we create.
The Valentine’s Edit introduced limited-edition colours and more lifestyle-led styling - what was the vision behind that collection?
The Valentine’s Day activewear edit was designed to bring our community together, spanning run, lift, and hybrid training, with a focus on inclusivity and versatility rather than separation by discipline. Each piece was thoughtfully developed to deliver on performance across multiple workout styles, while maintaining a cohesive, elevated aesthetic that feels just as relevant beyond the gym. The palette of Blush, Fudge, and Rose Red were central to the story, having adopted soft yet powerful tones that capture the spirit of Valentine’s Day while evoking confidence and femininity.
Through considered fabric selection, flattering silhouettes, and functional detailing, the collection balances technical performance with trend led design. Ultimately, the range is about more than just product, it’s about fostering a sense of unity, empowering our community to feel connected, confident, and supported in how they move and express themselves.
What has the response been like to the Valentine’s collection, and were there any standout sets/ pieces?
The response to the Valentine’s Day collection was incredibly strong, marked by record sales and standout engagement across the board, making it a truly memorable launch. What made the range particularly special was its cohesion, every piece felt purposeful, with each design element contributing to the overall story rather than relying on a single hero product. That said, if one item were to stand out, the MP Activewear pink sunglasses captured the spirit of the collection perfectly, adding a bold, playful finishing touch that complemented the palette and elevated each look full look through functionality and design.
The Hybrid Tempo range is designed for multi-discipline training with streamlined silhouettes and breathable fabrics - what gap in the market were you aiming to fill with this collection?
The Hybrid extension of our Tempo range has been purposefully developed to fill a clear gap in the market for athletes who train across multiple disciplines, particularly within the growing space of Hyrox and functional fitness. Rather than forcing consumers to choose between run specific or strength focused product, Tempo Hybrid delivers versatile, high-performance pieces that are engineered to support the full spectrum of what hybrid training demands.
Through years of refinement guided by wear testing, athlete insights and evolving training trends, we’ve fine-tuned fabrics, fits and functional details to ensure durability, flexibility, and comfort across varied movements and intensities. The result is a collection that truly meets the needs of the hybrid athlete, offering a seamless solution where performance, adaptability, and considered design come together in a way that is still underserved in the wider activewear market.
Both the Valentine’s and Hybrid Tempo collections have seen strong success so far this year - how would you describe the evolution of MP Activewear designs over the past few years?
Our customers consistently respond strongly to newness, showing a clear appetite for fresh design, updated silhouettes, and evolving colour stories. This enthusiasm drives us to continuously innovate, ensuring each drop feels exciting and relevant while still aligned with our core performance principles. By introducing considered updates across fabrication, styling, and trend direction, we keep the product offering dynamic and engaging, maintaining a sense of momentum that resonates with our community and keeps them coming back for more.
What’s next for MP womenswear - are there any areas you’re particularly excited to evolve?
On the Womenswear Team, we’re excited to continue growing our global reach while maintaining the strong momentum we’ve built with our community. As the boundaries between activewear and everyday dressing continue to blur, athleisure and beyond the gym product present a natural space for us to expand. Alongside our core functional training ranges, this allows us to design with a more holistic view of our consumer, supporting not just how she trains, but how she lives day to day. By tapping into her full routine, we can create versatile, considered pieces that seamlessly transition between workouts and everyday life, meeting her needs with both performance and style.