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The Lowdown

Meet Pineapple Dance Studios Founder Debbie Moore

Ahead of the launch of our dancewear collaboration with Pineapple Dance Studios, we took some time to get to know Founder Debbie Moore who launched the dance studio in 1979.

Aug 31 · 13 min read

Debbie, a former model turned successful female entrepreneur, has grown Pineapple from one dance studio in London’s Covent Garden into a globally recognised brand. On meeting Debbie it soon becomes clear that she isn’t just the founder, but the driving force behind

Pineapple who always finds a way to succeed. We asked her to tell us where it all began and her inspiration behind Pineapple Dance Studios.

‘At the age of 15, while living in Manchester, I won a competition to become Honey Magazine’s new Honey Girl and the prize was a modelling contract at the Sheelah Wilson Model Agency. One of my early jobs took me to America. I went to Washington, I was photographed for the magazine on top of the Empire State Building, it was amazing and my modelling career just took off.’

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Debbie’s modelling career spanned catalogues and TV commercials as well as travelling the world on photo shoots, which led to her meeting and marrying fashion photographer David Grant in 1966, aged 21. ‘They made a documentary about us called Model Couple – we were the Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey of the North,’ Debbie explains.

However it was when her husband left her in 1968 that Debbie found her love for dancing. The shock and devastation of her marriage breakdown resulted in Debbie putting on a lot of weight very quickly, forcing her to stop working as a model.

She was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and told she would need to take Thyroxine for the rest of her life to treat it, but she opted to find an alternative treatment. ‘I went in search of a cure and a friend of mine recommend his homoeopathic doctor. My doctor said the finest form of exercise is dance. It's the best way to lose weight, it exercises every muscle in your body, it’s cardio, its uplifting because of the music and it’s social. It’s everything, it’s the best exercise. Find a dance class.’ And so she did.

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How Pineapple Dance Studios Started

Debbie found a small dance studio on Floral Street in London’s Covent Garden where she took a class by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips. ‘There were a few teachers there and they offered ballet, jazz and tap. It was overcrowded and a bit rundown really but I was seeing my homeopathic doctor and following his advice and I lost the weight very quickly – I lost it in 9 months.’

By this time Debbie was hooked on dance and how amazing it made her feel. ‘I carried on going to dance classes because my issue wasn’t just my weight, I was depressed as well and dancing lifts your depression and increases your stamina.’ But in 1978 the owner decided to close the studio to make way for the Sanctuary Spa.

‘That was when I had my lightbulb moment,’ Debbie explains, ‘I thought I've got to open somewhere. I was so wide eyed by these dancers and how hard they worked and they inspired me to give them a fabulous dance studio.’

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Debbie knew she wanted to open her studio in Covent Garden but at that time Covent Garden had become a derelict area due to the fruit and flower market moving to South London and all that was left was empty warehouses. However when Debbie puts her mind to something there really is no stopping her, ‘I found one of the available warehouses and the bottom line is that it was a pineapple warehouse and I opened about six months later.’

From London Dance Studio to Global Brand

It wasn’t long until Pineapple grew into a brand when Debbie launched her own clothing line. At the time dance leotards were made from nylon piqué with no stretch and dancers were customising their leotards to make them look better. Debbie explains, ‘The girls were cutting them and putting safety pins in them to make the neckline lower and sexier and cutting the legs to make them higher cut, so I already had the inspiration within me to create fabulous dancewear.’

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With dancewear only being made in nylon or nylon Lycra, Debbie knew there needed to be a change to create what she was envisioning, so she went to Du Pont, the chemical company that invented Lycra in 1949, and ask if they could make her a cotton Lycra blend. ‘They developed cotton Lycra in different weights for me to experiment with. I wanted to make a leotard and footless tights and in this fabric it was a game changer, you could wear them in the street and the dance leotard become a fashion item. People started wearing them with their jeans and footless tights became leggings and leotards that had poppers became bodies.’

The collection grew from there, ‘We were doing the leotard and catsuits in the cotton Lycra and I soon realised why not a cotton skirt to pull on and why not a dress? The uses of the fabulous fabric Du Pont had made were endless and it really did revolutionise the way women were dressing.’

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In 1982 Debbie went public with her business and was the first woman to float a company on the London Stock Exchange. A moment that was captured in a photograph showing her in her sweats while she was surrounded by men in suits. ‘I did it to get the money to open in New York,’ she explains. Pineapple bought the first ever commercial condominium in New York’s SoHo district spanning three floors of a 12 storey building. ‘The building got sold eventually but I had New York for eight years and it was amazing because it changed the whole way of dance in New York.’

Pineapple celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2019, so what is it that has led to Pineapple’s success and longevity? Debbie begins, ‘I have the ability to continually reinvent the wheel, I don’t get stuck in a time warp. I was responding to a need when I opened Pineapple and I wanted it to be for everyone. The motives behind Pineapple wasn’t about making lots of money, I was getting to the end of my modelling career and I wanted to find something different to do.’

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She continues, ‘Pineapple is all about dance and fashion so it’s very mercurial and constantly changing. It was the dancers who inspired me, they were always customising their dancewear and we took that dancewear look to the streets, and we can somehow always see the change coming.’

Looking back at the brand over the years, how would Debbie define Pineapple today, ‘If I had to describe Pineapple in three words I’d say, it’s accessible, iconic and timeless. By accessible I mean everyone from 3 to 93 – I now have to say 3 to 103 because we have a dancer who’s 97 that comes by, so we've had to extend that slightly!’ she laughs. ‘It’s quite literally stood the test of time and keeps coming back and coming back stronger.’

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Primark x Pineapple Dance Studios Dancewear Collection

With our Pineapple kidswear collection ready to launch in store (with a womenswear collection to follow later in the year) what was important to Debbie about this range? ‘We wanted to create a collection that was really authentically Pineapple and I think we’ve achieved that with the help of Primark. Fabrics are very important to me so I’ve ensured they all feel soft and have enough mechanical stretch in them. The colours are very flattering and I always make sure the collection is age appropriate, both for kidswear and women. I won’t let anyone not look good for their age, and I won’t let the girls look risqué.’

So how does Debbie feel to have a Pineapple collection in Primark? ’I’ve always been a Primark girl,’ she explains, ‘When London’s Marble Arch store opened that became my Primark. I just think Primark is a joy to go into. You can go and have a coffee now in the coffee shop and I’m just so pleased to have Pineapple in Primark. I really wanted to do the kidswear range as well as womenswear and so we’ve done it and I’m thrilled!’

Find out more about our Pineapple leisure and activewear or browse our women’s activewear.

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