Pilates on the Seine

October 7, 2026

A morning of movement, connection and Parisian light.

Paris. Some mornings are planned. Others seem to belong to the city before anyone arrives.

On a Sunday at the end of August, a group of women stepped onto a boat at the Port de Bercy with mats, soft blue Pilates balls and very little else on the agenda. The idea was simple. Move together while Paris moved past.

This was The Wellness Edit in Paris, created by EMILI ROSE in collaboration with Pilates Paris Girls. The class took place on the open deck, and the river carried it slowly from one view to the next.

Women in ivory activewear practising Pilates on mats on the wooden deck of a boat, with Parisian stone buildings along the Seine behind them — The Wellness Edit, Paris.

Movement, beyond the studio

At Emili Rose, movement has never belonged only to the studio. It can happen on a padel court, beside the sea, high in the mountains. For one morning, it happened on water.

The practice asked for attention. Breath, alignment, the small effort of staying still while the deck shifted under the mat. Then the city would interrupt. Stone embankments. The gilded columns of Pont Alexandre III. The Eiffel Tower, appearing and disappearing between the trees.

A woman in an ivory zip-front romper leaning against the boat railing, looking out over the river — Between sets, the river.

A woman with long dark hair holding a pale blue Pilates ball on deck, the Eiffel Tower behind her — Between sets, the river.

Rows of women lying on blue mats on the boat deck, legs raised, holding blue Pilates balls between their feet; Paris buildings in the background

A woman in a deep lunge on deck, lifting a blue Pilates ball overhead, with a metal bridge behind — The deck as studio.

A woman in sunglasses raising a blue Pilates ball above her head against a pale sky — The deck as studio.

The ritual

Before the first movement, there was a table. Tomatoes, small bowls, things meant to be shared. By a window, someone was having her make-up finished as the river went by.

Introductions happened the way they do when nobody is in a hurry. A name, a city, a reason for being there. By the time the mats were rolled out, the group already felt less like strangers.

Two women in ivory tops standing at a brunch table laid with tomatoes and small bowls of food — Before the first movement.

A woman in an ivory ribbed top seated by the boat window while a make-up artist works on her face — Before the first movement.

Paris, through Emili Rose

Every woman on board wore Emili Rose. Ivory, finely ribbed, close to the body. Against grey stone and green water, the pieces became part of the palette of the morning rather than its subject.

That is what The Art of Movement means to us. Clothing is one part of the story. What matters is where it takes you, how you move in it, and the life that happens around it.

Two smiling women in ivory rompers leaning on the boat railing, one holding a blue Pilates ball, the Eiffel Tower in the distance

A woman in sunglasses and an ivory zip-front top holding an iced drink, palm leaves behind her — The crown, worn quietly.

Some experiences aren't meant to be watched. They're meant to be lived.

Emili Rose

Women stretching their arms overhead on the boat deck, with Pont Alexandre III and the Eiffel Tower behind them

As seen in

aufeminin

By Julie Caron · 30 August 2026

The magazine’s editor-in-chief joined us on board. She was handed her Emili Rose set on the quay, took the class on deck, and wrote about the morning in a first-person feature.

Read the feature on aufeminin →

After the last movement

When the class ended, the deck turned social. Phones came out, this time for each other. Arms around shoulders. One more photograph with the tower behind.

Paris was never meant to be a destination on its own. It was another chapter. From Amsterdam to Paris, and wherever movement leads next, The Wellness Edit keeps returning to one idea: that wellness can be beautiful, social and rooted in place.