The Next Stage of Pilates Apparatus Innovation Won't Look Like the Last
Why two very different new manufacturers may tell us more about the future of Pilates than the products themselves.
There is certainly no shortage of new Pilates apparatus manufacturers or reformer machine brands.
Every year new companies enter the market. Some manufacture excellent products, some rebadge existing designs, and many compete by trying to produce a slightly different version of what already exists.
That, however, is not what interests me.
What interests me is when a company enters a mature market by asking a completely different question.
I believe that is exactly what we are beginning to see within the Pilates apparatus and reformer machine industry.
For many years, manufacturers were largely solving the same problems. They worked to improve engineering, durability, manufacturing quality and reliability. Those developments have undoubtedly benefited our profession, but they were all driven by broadly similar objectives.
Today the market looks very different.
The growth of Group Reformer studios, the increasing popularity of home Reformers and the expansion of Pilates into commercial gyms have created customers with very different expectations.
The experienced Pilates teacher does not necessarily value the same things as someone purchasing their first home Reformer.
A boutique studio owner has different priorities from a commercial gym operator, especially when choosing new reformer machines or other apparatus.
A Classically trained instructor may judge Apparatus very differently from someone whose first experience of Pilates came through a fitness environment.
As our customers have diversified, the opportunities for innovation have diversified too.
That is why two relatively new manufacturers caught my attention.
‘Fold Reformers’ appear to have focused on making Reformer ownership more achievable by removing barriers such as space, storage and lifestyle integration.
Fold Reformers
‘Praveon’ appears to have asked a different question entirely:
"Once somebody owns a Reformer, how can the ownership experience become even more valuable?"
Neither approach is inherently better. They are simply different responses to a maturing market. For me, that is the real story.
The most interesting innovations are no longer simply about engineering better Apparatus. They are about understanding customers more deeply.
That principle extends well beyond equipment manufacturing.
Studio owners, educators, distributors and consultants all face exactly the same challenge. Success increasingly depends upon identifying the right problem before attempting to design the solution.
It is a lesson that applies just as readily to opening a new studio as it does to designing the next generation of Reformer.
Pravéon Reformers
Read the full Industry Perspective
In this month's Industry Perspectives, I explore why the emergence of companies such as Fold and Praveon may tell us something much bigger than the launch of two new brands.
Rather than reviewing products, I examine how mature industries evolve, why innovation changes as markets develop, and what studio owners, educators, manufacturers and distributors can learn from the next phase of growth in the Pilates Apparatus industry.