The Moment I Didn’t See Coming
In 2025, Dua Lipa walked into a Frame Fitness Pilates class at Casa Cipriani in New York City. She picked up a pair of Lifting The Mood adjustable dumbbells. And Athletech News covered it. Cool, right?
Not a sentence I ever imagined writing when I started this company.
How It Actually Happened
Casa Cipriani in New York City hosted a Frame Fitness Pilates and strength class. It’s one of those spaces where everything feels considered. The lighting, the materials, the experience. The kind of place where the details matter.
The WellUp Collective team who managed the event chose 🔒Lifting The Mood LTM dumbbells because of the comfortable grip and aesthetic design that matched the high end event they were creating for a very discerning audience.
No big campaign. No paid placement. Just a decision.
Why This Matters (And It’s Not About the Celebrity)
It would be easy to turn this into a celebrity story. But that’s not the interesting part.
Dua Lipa did not choose these dumbbells. The WellUp Collective team did.
A professional team, used to working with high-end brands, evaluated their options and selected Lifting The Mood based on how the product actually performs in a real setting.
Here’s what they were really choosing:
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2 to 22 lbs → a range that works seamlessly for Pilates and light strength
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soft-touch grip → comfortable during quick transitions (no awkward adjusting mid-flow)
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triangular anti-roll shape → the weights stay exactly where you place them, even in a full class
When you’re setting up a room with 15 people moving through exercises, you don’t pick something that only looks good. It has to work. Quietly, reliably, without interruption.
That’s the part that matters.
A Small Shift That Isn’t Talked About Enough
Most women don’t avoid strength training because they don’t want to be strong.
They avoid it because:
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The equipment feels intimidating
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It doesn’t fit into their space
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It disrupts the calm they’re trying to create at home
And no one really talks about how much that matters. We’ve been told to adapt to the equipment. Rarely the other way around.
The Press Moment (Yes, It’s Still Special)
Athletech News published the story: Dua Lipa Joins Frame Fitness Pilates. The article includes a direct link to Liftingthemood.com, one of only four press features we’ve received from a major publication.
We’ve also been featured in:
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2026 Shape Fitness Awards (Shape Magazine)
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Bloomberg's holiday gift guide
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Woman's Day ‘YAY list’ for pretty dumbbells
Each one still feels surreal, if I’m being honest.
What Hasn’t Changed
It’s still just me. I’m still packing orders and putting them underneath the stroller. Sometimes answering emails in between and carrying / or rolling the LTM boxes to UPS myself.
The LTM dumbbells used in that class are the exact same ones available on the site. No special version. No “event-only” product.
Just the same pair, sitting in someone’s living room. And that’s kind of the point. Because if something works in a boutique studio in Manhattan, it should feel just as natural in your home.
The Quiet Validation
There’s a difference between being seen and being used. A product sitting in a PR package is one thing. A product chosen for a live class, with real people moving through it, is another.
One is visibility. The other is trust.
Closing Thought
I didn’t build this brand to be part of a moment. I built it for the everyday ones. The ones where you squeeze in 20 minutes between everything else. The ones where your space matters. Where how something feels in your hand matters.
Lifting The Mood adjustable dumbbells as used by 🔒 Frame Fitness NYC. Founded by Laura ter Meer Guardia (me!). US Patent D998,065 S. See them here →
Con muchisimo amor,
Laura ter Meer Guardia, Founder and Mami