Totally natural
Former Miss Universe Auckland-born Lorraine Downes, 46, is the new face of natural skin care company Living Earth. CEO of Living Nature, New Zealand John O’Toole says: “Lorraine and Living Nature is a match…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Proof in the pudding
The pavlova is a New Zealand-invented dessert, and the proof is in the dictionary entry. An argument dating back generations between Australia and New Zealand over which of them invented the pavlova appears to…
Halal-fuelled burgers
New Zealand franchise Burger Fuel will offer grass-fed halal meat to its customers when a chain of 15 outlets open over five years throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Burger Fuel’s first store operates…
Breaking the NY ice
Actor and comedian Jemaine Clement recently made an appearance at the opening of sporting apparel line Icebreaker’s new Manhattan store. Examiner.com wrote: “While the staff was getting ready for the big grand opening, a…
Record steam
Aucklander Simon Janson’s “pretty amazing” steam-powered record player is reviewed by gadgets and gizmos blog site Techabob. “Janson mated steam-power with an Arduino processor. The engine was cobbled together from bits and pieces. The…
Passionate About Food
Wellington is New Zealand’s “culinary epicentre” according to the Los Angeles Times’ Laura Fraser, a city which “gazes out to the Mediterranean” for inspiration. “We’ve got a country with a very Anglo-Saxon food heritage,…
Iconic competition
Northland builder Iain Cathcart’s Hobbit-inspired letterbox has been named the quirkiest in the country in a competition run by Kaukapakapa nursery owners David and Geraldine Bayly. The concrete sculpture topped with white, New Zealand…
New Asian markets
Owner of Marlborough’s Forrest Estate Winery John Forrest was recently in Seoul, South Korea studying the local market, attending a wine fair, and introducing products to Korean consumers, buyers and retailers. “The group that…
Taste of Success
“There are several reasons for Man O War’s success,” Air New Zealand Wine Awards judge Eric Arnold writes in an article for Forbes. “It’s the island’s biggest, most established producer; it’s…
Mood-lit air travel
“Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 777-3ER passenger cabins look more like those inside a private jet than a commercial airliner,” according to Alan Ferguson reporting for The Province. “Redesigned from scratch, the mood-lit cabins…
Jagger’s good choice
Fashion “It” girl Georgia May Jagger, daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, chose New Zealand designer Karen Walker for the racetrack at Melbourne’s Crown Oaks Day in November. “Georgia definitely made the right…
Kopapa in the West End
New Zealand-born chef-proprietor of London’s Providores and Tapa Room Peter Gordon is set to open a new restaurant, called Kopapa in Convent Garden in December. Dishes will include Turkish poached eggs with whipped yogurt…
Sticking to his guns
George Fistonich, founder and owner of New Zealand’s self-proclaimed most successful winery, Villa Maria Estate, is living proof of the wisdom of sticking to a quality ethic, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Huon Hooke writes….
Emissions by the glass
New Zealand wine Mobius Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc will be the first in the world to display its carbon emissions by individual glass servings of 125ml. The carbon emissions, which are calculated to measure the…
Lost in Times Square
Auckland model Zippora Seven, 19, features in an Oyster Magazine fashion spread shot in New York. Fashion blog Dope Ambition describes the shoot: “Seven wanders the streets of Times Square in Oyster Magazine’s editorial…
Ottolenghi likes manuka
New Zealand manuka honey is combined with walnuts and added to a radicchio, pecorino fiore sardo and lentil salad created by the high-profile London-based Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi for the Guardian. Ottolenghi writes: “I…
Dangerous embrace
Auckland musician Zowie (born Zoe Fleury) made the best fashion statement of the day when performing at the opening of New York’s CMJ Music Marathon in October, proclaimed New York Times blogger Jon Pareles….
Starbucks combo
Wellington-based design company The Formary, have developed a new sustainable textile called “WoJo” which will be used by coffee chain Starbucks for chairs in their stores and unveiled as part of UK Wool Week…
Best of the vintage
Wellington’s vintage clothing store Ziggurat Fashion Emporium on Cuba Street is recommended in the Guardian by readers who name their favourite places to stock up on retro outfits and vintage pieces, in the UK…
Merino for New Yorkers
Icebreaker will open its first store in Manhattan, New York in early December. The 25-square-foot SoHo store will be Icebreaker’s flagship. The new TOUCH_LAB retail store will showcase the complete Icebreaker line from its…
Pleasingly solid week
New Zealand Fashion Week may have lacked in sponsor capital, but it was pleasingly solid in terms of creativity,” The Australian’s fashion editor Georgina Safe writes. “Most of the designers who were in the…
Tasman trounce
New Zealanders have done it again, bemoans Huon Hooke writing for The Sydney Morning Herald. “They have trounced us in the Tri Nations,” Hooke continues. “Not at rugby but wine. It’s becoming…
Lifetime achiever
Jeweller Doug Erkkila, 83, has won the inaugural Jewellers Association of New Zealand’s (JANZ) Hall of Fame and Lifetime Member Award. When accepting the award, the jovial and popular Erkkila was, unusually, lost for…
Shrouded statement
Wellington designer Alexandra Owen, 28, sent models down this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week catwalk wearing knit shrouds and fencing masks. Styleite writes: “Perhaps the masks were intended as commentary on the lack of…
Delightfully Posh
Auckland-born fashion designer Emilia Wickstead, 26, talks to the Telegraph’s Samantha Cameron about low-key style and “how to do stealth chic”. Wickstead says: “When I was 14 I moved from New Zealand to Milan,…
Fleece Fit for a King: Taking on Cashmere
A Spanish king with a penchant for tactile pleasures; a New Zealand farmer with a passion for curly heads; an endangered species shipped across the world; a suave man stepping out of a plane in an…
Catwalk curves
Designer Caroline Marr’s label The Carpenter’s Daughter returns to New Zealand Fashion week this year showcasing her Winter 21 collection for women with curves. Specialising in “Clothing for Curvy Girls”, producing 1 per cent…
World-class Dining
“Auckland’s subtropical climate, Polynesian culture, unpolluted waters and cosmopolitan buzz have combined to create a world-class dining scene,” according to the Guardian’s food writer Kevin Gould. Gould is particularly taken with Peter Gordon’s “two,…
Wine for football fans
New Zealand’s Clark Estate in the Awatere Valley has produced an official wine for the Watford Football Club or the Hornets, as they are known in the UK. Lifelong Hornets fan Peter Clark, 61,…
Wine Search Simplified
New Zealander Martin Brown’s search-engine wine-searcher.com “has done more to transform that commercial landscape than any other, affecting every facet of the way the wine business is conducted, certainly in this country and…
Celebrating a decade
Designers NOM*d, Zambesi, Trelise Cooper and Starfish — who will stage the very first Eco Show — all feature as part of the largest ever line up at New Zealand Fashion Week held from…
Gold stars for Lam
Bay of Plenty baker Patrick Lam has won the national Supreme Pie Award for the fourth time in the competition’s 14-year history. His bacon-and-egg special was named the best of a record 4336 entries…
Craving more bleu
Former sheep farmer New Zealander Alistair MacKenzie moved to Canada 11 years ago with his French-Canadian wife, Karien Piché and made a career change, purchasing a small artisan cheese-making and sheep farming business called…
Kitchen for hot shots
One thousand young chefs will compete in the 18th Annual New Zealand Culinary Fare at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland on August 22-24. The three-day ‘hot kitchen’ competition is the largest of its kind…
Thawing an icy tipple
Canterbury Museum is slowly thawing out a crate of Scotch whisky which was found in Antarctica earlier this year beneath the floor of a hut built by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The New…
Off with the polar fleece
Top local fashion designers will soon be represented in the centre of the French capital at a concept store owned by Paris-based New Zealander Catherine McMahon. Koko, which will stock Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker,…
NZ’s own Moss shines
Eighteen-year-old Remuera-raised model Georgia Fowler, who featured in June’s Harper’s Bazaar cover story titled “The Rise of The Australian Supermodel”, has generated interest from Calvin Klein, YSL, Top Shop and Armani. Represented in New…
Hammering out beauty
Metalsmith and jewellery designer New Zealander Amy Bixby, who is based in Seattle, “grew up on a sheep station with parents who instilled the value of making things from scratch”, freelance writer Kathy Schultz…
Good as gold
Waiheke Island is a prime growing spot for olive trees and each year, in November, the Waiheke Olive Festival takes place on the estate of one of the local producers. Toronto Star freelance travel…
Artful Carrier
The Dunedin-designed Freeload rack is included in a Los Angeles Times article called “Gear: Better bike accessories”. “These new accessories make on- and off-road touring a breeze, indoor training more realistic, fast rides more…
Shechita forbidden
New Zealand has banned kosher slaughter after a new animal welfare code mandated that all animals for commercial consumption be stunned prior to slaughter to ensure they are treated “humanely and in accordance with…
Chicago showcase
Monteith’s Brewing Company, Aotearoa Seafoods and The Lamb Company are among some of the eight New Zealand companies taking part in the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago on May 22—25. The…
Papery puns
Rangitikei artist Andrew Reilly has turned bull dung into paper, “perfect,” reflects Guardian blogger Roy Greenslade “for publishing bullshit”. After harvesting the dung, Reilly soaks it in water for a fortnight, explaining that there…
Gorizia Beckons
Otago Polytechnic’s School of Design graduates, Sophie Brooke Hardy and Roxanna Zamani, will travel to Gorizia, in northeast Italy, at the end of June to take part in the Mittelmoda Fashion Award. Their selection…
Davenport’s coup
New Zealand-born chef Phillip Davenport, group executive chef at Bali’s popular Ku De Ta restaurant and bar, discusses his “must-buy ingredient of the moment”, his “best recent dining experience” and his “most embarrassing pantry…
Killer Pinot
“A decade ago, New Zealand growers targeted the bottom 50 per cent of the global pinot noir market, stating it simply wasn’t worth drinking (we agree),” writes The Vancouver Sun’s Anthony Gismondi. “Upon that tenet, they…
Especially select
New Zealanders have a love of coffee, wine, water and an extraordinary, “relentless” particularity for those beverages, for dogs, sport, even driveways and beech trees, writes Peter Miller for Seattle news site Crosscut. “Water…
Inspired Simplicity
Remuera boutique interior design studio Monochrome Inc is profiled in Malaysia’s online version of The Star. “Would you consider an interior design colour scheme that’s predominantly black and white? It probably would be tedious, wouldn’t…
Pavlova in a Glass
New Zealand’s capital city was the grand final host and inspiration for the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup winning beverage, Wellington Fizz. American Sean Hoard, 23, wowed the judges with a playful kiwifruit vodka fizz…
Guava Crumble Please
Gisborne-born, London-based chef Peter Gordon writes in The Independent on Sunday that he has “a sense of a growing tide of culinary xenophobia” and that the British “love affair with home-grown ingredients is killing…
Kauri Acoustics
Bay of Islands-based luthier Christian Druery makes guitars from ancient swamp kauri and last year created two instruments commissioned for the Musical Instrument Museum in Arizona. “Essentially, I was asked to design and build two…
Outsider Made Happy
New Zealand-raised Louise Chunn, Psychologies magazine’s new editor, “is an outsider who made it” according to the Guardian’s Stephen Brook. After stints at, among others, Elle, the Guardian, Vogue, InStyle and Good…
Seeking an Identity
New Zealand pinot noir has come a long way over the past 10 years, continuing to improve each year, but because the grape is a newcomer to this country, a group of New York-based…
For the In-crowd in NY
“It’s rare to see people walk out of a fashion show, but that is indeed what happened at Rebecca Taylor — but only because the Salon tent in Bryant Park [at New…
Walker’s inspiration
Karen Walker combined The Sound of Music with Bob Dylan and then threw in a snazzy sunglasses to create a collection dubbed “Sun Gods” at this year’s New York Fashion Week. Whether it’s…
Unique Fine Dining
Pipis, paua, tuatua, feijoas, kumara, cervena, puha and horipito are just some of the unfamiliar items found on the menu in New Zealand restaurants, Winsor Dobbins of The Sydney Morning Herald discovers….
