Blog Archives

Emilia Wickstead Launches Activewear Range

Emilia Wickstead Launches Activewear Range

New Zealander Emilia Wickstead – she of knock-‘em-dead evening dresses and, most recently, bridalwear fame – has branched out into activewear in a collaboration with Britain’s premier health and fitness facility, Bodyism. “It’s important for…

Chasing Great a Universally-Appealing Sports Doco

Chasing Great a Universally-Appealing Sports Doco

Justin Pemberton and Michelle Walshe’s documentary Chasing Great, about world-champion All Blacks captain, Richie McCaw, “proves surprisingly accessible to non-fans, and a well-articulated look at some of the mental processes behind sports success,”…

C.K. Stead’s Latest Novel Masterfully Structured

C.K. Stead’s Latest Novel Masterfully Structured

“The Necessary Angel’s literary preoccupations are familiar territory for Stead, a distinguished novelist, poet and critic who was for many years professor of English at the University of Auckland,” Financial Times correspondent Zoë…

Kester Black’s Anna Ross a Cosmetics Game Changer

Kester Black’s Anna Ross a Cosmetics Game Changer

No formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, camphor, formaldehyde resin, xylene, parabens, fragrances, phthalates, sulfates, palm oil, petrochemicals or animal-derived or tested ingredients; must be made here and a goal to be fair trade certified (or a…

True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven

True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven

New Zealand-raised Anna Paquin is returning to television. The True Blood and Alias Grace star is set to appear in the upcoming dramedy Flack. The limited series, which is co-produced by Paquin and her…

Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm

Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm

New Zealand-born artist Francis Upritchard is all about creating art that leaves behind societal norms, according to Jesse Oleson writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Art is supposed to be fun,” London-based Upritchard says. “Work…

Comedian Deb Filler Does It Her Way in Yiddish

Comedian Deb Filler Does It Her Way in Yiddish

New Zealand comedian Deb Filler recreates 50 years of chart-toppers and pop icons in her solo show I Did it My Way in Yiddish (in English). Toronto-based Filler performed the show at this year’s…

Chefs Margot and Fergus Henderson Chat to the Times

Chefs Margot and Fergus Henderson Chat to the Times

Margot Henderson, 53, and her husband, Fergus, 54, recently spoke with the Sunday Times on their whirlwind courtship and coping with his Parkinson’s. Margot said that she first heard of her future husband through a…

Post Makes Its Way to the Farm up the Long Drive

Post Makes Its Way to the Farm up the Long Drive

A parcel sent to a couple in New Zealand addressed only with “a farm, situated up a long driveway with cows, opposite a pub or thereabouts” has reached its rightful owners, via the Cust…

Michael James Wong Helps Men Find New Masculinity

Michael James Wong Helps Men Find New Masculinity

Boys of Yoga founder New Zealander Michael James Wong, 32, is interviewed by Sunday Times correspondent Stuart Heritage for an article about the growing popularity of lifestyle sites for men. Wong describes himself as a…

Taika Waititi to Play Version of Imaginary Hitler

Taika Waititi to Play Version of Imaginary Hitler

Whenever Fox Searchlight Pictures ends up releasing New Zealander Taika Waititi’s satire Jojo Rabbit, it will give viewers the chance to see a version of Adolf Hitler they most likely never have before. IndieWire…

Joyful Acquaintances Made over Message in a Bottle

Joyful Acquaintances Made over Message in a Bottle

Whangarei teenager Julien Joy, 15, could not believe his eyes when he received a letter in the post from a German woman reminding him of a distant memory. Luisa, who was walking along a…

Kimbra Finds New Version of Self in Primal Heart

Kimbra Finds New Version of Self in Primal Heart

New York-based New Zealand-born “self-actualised star and feminist pop warrior” Kimbra, 27, is back with a new album and another version of herself, according to Interview magazine’s Erica Russell. The glossy, neon sheen of Primal…

Paralympic Skier Adam Hall Earns Triple Honour

Paralympic Skier Adam Hall Earns Triple Honour

New Zealand alpine skier Adam Hall (pictured right), 30, who won a gold and a bronze medal in the men’s slalom and super-combined, respectively, at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, has also been…

Pioneering Umpire Kathy Cross to Retire

Pioneering Umpire Kathy Cross to Retire

New Zealand’s Kathy Cross, 60, who was the first woman to be named on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Umpire’s Panel, will retire from international umpiring after the Twenty20 International series between New Zealand…

Witch Rockers HEX Are Here to Curse the Patriarchy

Witch Rockers HEX Are Here to Curse the Patriarchy

Wellington folk metal band HEX have “got the ‘slightly spooky dark rock’ formula down pat, but aren’t afraid to mix it up with a bit of sneering garage rock, down-tempo riot grrrl, or big,…

Designer Emilia Wickstead on Her Dreamy Getaways

Designer Emilia Wickstead on Her Dreamy Getaways

With a working history that spans from the heady heights of Manhattan to Milan’s Navigli Canal, Auckland-born designer Emilia Wickstead is no stranger to fashion capitals. In a Telegraph interview, the outfitter to the…

Veere Grenney Beautifies Grenadines Beach Folly

Veere Grenney Beautifies Grenadines Beach Folly

On the Caribbean island of Mustique, interior designer New Zealander Veere Grenney has redesigned a bamboo house that is a study in neutrals and natural materials, set off by the green of the palms…

Producer Obeisant Busy at His Catalogue

Producer Obeisant Busy at His Catalogue

Music producer Sebastian Gawlik, aka Obeisant, is an artist from New Zealand who got a mighty push in 2017 when he was discovered by the Critical label and included in their Binary series, electronic music site Your…

Karl Rock Surprises Locals With Grasp of Hindi

Karl Rock Surprises Locals With Grasp of Hindi

Karl Rock, a New Zealander currently living in Delhi, has won many Indian hearts with his fluent Hindi, and in his video “Foreigner Surprising Indians with Hindi” specifically. On his website India Survival Guide, Rock…

Maggie Marilyn Can Make a Dress Do Crazy Things

Maggie Marilyn Can Make a Dress Do Crazy Things

Part sporty part smart, Maggie Marilyn is an ethically responsible label launched in 2016 and has become a go-to for girls who like a statement piece with polish. Harper’s Bazaar asked New Zealand-born Marilyn…

With FAKY Anna Sawai Is Broadening Her Horizons

With FAKY Anna Sawai Is Broadening Her Horizons

Loads of acts around the world are proving that the pop game is now a truly global one, and FAKY continues to show the rising appeal of modern-day Japanese pop with their latest English…

National Serviceman Ross Cameron’s Close Call

National Serviceman Ross Cameron’s Close Call

Ross Cameron never saw the bloody conflicts of Vietnam but he almost got the call. The New Zealand-born National Serviceman, who lives in Townsville, Australia, had his birthday come up in his country’s compulsory…

Aspen Chalet Gets the Sandra Nunnerley Touch

Aspen Chalet Gets the Sandra Nunnerley Touch

Wellington-born New York-based interior designer Sandra Nunnerley’s recent Aspen project, a reinvented ski chalet, features in AD France. The home was designed by American architect Alan Wanzenburg for a former Olympic sailing champion and his family….

Inspiring Model Georgia Pratt Says to Be Your Truth

Inspiring Model Georgia Pratt Says to Be Your Truth

As anyone who’s spent time in a few fitting rooms knows, finding a great pair of jeans can take a little time – almost as much time as it can take to find your…

New Zealand’s New Big Thing Is Pinot Noir

New Zealand’s New Big Thing Is Pinot Noir

New Zealand “was once known merely for crisp, grassy sauvignon blanc wines. No longer,” Elin McCoy writes in a report for Bloomberg. “Actor Sam Neill just finished a six-part television documentary on the voyages of…

Magnetic Marlon Plays Brilliant Tiny Desk Session

Magnetic Marlon Plays Brilliant Tiny Desk Session

“Marlon Williams is a handsome devil with a heart-stopping voice, who writes songs about vampires and horror films. This 27-year-old, New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer is also a teller of tales,” tastemaster Bob Boilen writes…

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Outside the Box

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Outside the Box

“Perhaps no other wine style is as instantly recognisable as New Zealand sauvignon blanc,” Christina Pickard writes for Wine Enthusiast magazine. “It put New Zealand wine on the map in all its brash, aromatic…

Skiing’s Remarkable Wells Brothers

Skiing’s Remarkable Wells Brothers

Wanaka’s Wells brothers are “skiing’s answer to the Von Trapp family”, according to CNN’s Matias Grez. The four freeskiers are: Jossi, 27, (pictured) Byron, 25, Beau-James, 21, and Jackson, 19. Ever since he can remember,…

Vicki Lee Takes Music of Vera Lynn Across Sussex

Vicki Lee Takes Music of Vera Lynn Across Sussex

Palmerston North singer Vicki Lee, 64, is touring Sussex, England in February with her tribute to the life and music of centenarian Dame Vera Lynn, known as the ‘Forces’ Sweetheart’. The show began life in…

Staring Down the Barrel with Aldous Harding

Staring Down the Barrel with Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding’s sophomore album Party has every right to stake its claim as the best album of last year, according to Melbourne-based lifestyle website Broadsheet. The power of Harding’s voice was only hinted at…

How Bisexual Goose Thomas Became an Icon

How Bisexual Goose Thomas Became an Icon

A memorial was recently held for Thomas the goose, a “New Zealander who spent most of his life as a loving partner, caring father and an icon of the LGBT community”, Yvette Tan writes in a…

Isaac Burrough Reveals 28m Motor Yacht Concept

Isaac Burrough Reveals 28m Motor Yacht Concept

Amsterdam-based designer New Zealander Isaac Burrough has released his latest concept, a 28m motor yacht that draws inspiration from the world of product design. Eschewing the more commonplace reference points of architecture and automotive design,…

Scientists Assess Surprise Status of Ross Ice Shelf

Scientists Assess Surprise Status of Ross Ice Shelf

New Zealand scientists have peered into one of the least-explored swaths of ocean on Earth, a vast region located off the coast of West Antarctica. It is locked beneath a crust of ice larger…

Boy Fans Will Love The Breakers and Upperers

Boy Fans Will Love The Breakers and Upperers

If you enjoy contemporary New Zealand comedies like Boy, What We Do in the Shadows, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, then you should put this Taika Waititi-executive produced title The Breaker Upperers on your radar, recommends…

Move Over Norway and Behold Fiordland

Move Over Norway and Behold Fiordland

“If you’ve never heard of this national park, on New Zealand’s South Island, then you won’t know that it’s one of earth’s most staggeringly jaw-dropping wildernesses,” the Britain’s Daily Mail reports. The publication features…

Superorganism’s Harry Lets Us in on Band’s Mystique

Superorganism’s Harry Lets Us in on Band’s Mystique

Signing to Domino Records mid-2017, the fun pop eight-piece Superorganism has since kept a pretty exclusive profile, playing only a handful of shows throughout the entire year. With the release of their self-titled debut…

New Zealand’s Role in Apocalypse Now

New Zealand’s Role in Apocalypse Now

“If you’re interested in the end of the world, you’re interested in New Zealand. If you’re interested in how our current cultural anxieties – climate catastrophe, decline of transatlantic political orders, resurgent nuclear terror…

Maryanne Redpath at Helm of Berlinale’s Generation

Maryanne Redpath at Helm of Berlinale’s Generation

Within 10 years, former artist, teacher and filmmaker New Zealand-born Maryanne Redpath has turned the Berlinale youth section Generation into one of the most popular strands of the film festival, with a gem-packed programme…

Robyn Malcolm on Cleavage and Credibility

Robyn Malcolm on Cleavage and Credibility

It is something of a surprise to see New Zealander Robyn Malcolm looking positively restrained, wearing a conservative skirt and blouse, for her role as Maxine Pavich in the new ABC television drama series…

Why New Zealand Has So Many Gang Members

Why New Zealand Has So Many Gang Members

“For a quiet country, New Zealand has a peculiar problem with gangs. It is reckoned to have one of the highest membership rates in the world. In a population of 4.7m, police count over…

Pirate Involved in Peter Blake’s Death Recaptured

Pirate Involved in Peter Blake’s Death Recaptured

Brazilian police on a remote Amazon River island have arrested a man involved in the murder of round-the-world sailor New Zealander Sir Peter Blake in 2001. José Irandir Cardoso had been a fugitive for the…

Rotorua the Southern Hemisphere’s Yellowstone

Rotorua the Southern Hemisphere’s Yellowstone

“The Rotorua region, one of the world’s most geothermally active areas, is the Southern Hemisphere’s take on Yellowstone – minus bison, bears and backed-up crowds,” journalist M.L. Lyke writes for The Washington Post. “Gases and…

Jacinda Ardern Graces Vogue’s Pages

Jacinda Ardern Graces Vogue’s Pages

Jacinda Ardern is clear-eyed about what a prime minister of New Zealand, a country with a population of under five million, can achieve on the world stage. “We’re small,” she tells Amelia Lester reporting…

Former PM Bill English Quits Politics

Former PM Bill English Quits Politics

Former New Zealand prime minister Bill English, 56, has resigned as leader of the National Party, quitting politics after a 27-year career. “Now is the right time for me to step aside and embark on new professional…

Artist Francis Upritchard Describes Balata

Artist Francis Upritchard Describes Balata

A festive crowd of art-lovers gathered at Lux Art Institute in Encinitas, California recently for the opening of a show by the first of its 2018 resident artists, London-based New Zealander Francis Upritchard. Upritchard’s odd…

Unknown Mortal Orchestra Begin Promotion of New LP

Unknown Mortal Orchestra Begin Promotion of New LP

The follow-up to New Zealand band Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s 2015 album Multi-Love, their fourth studio album, Sex & Food is out on 6 April. Bandleader Ruban Nielson described the impetus behind the album, saying he wanted to…

See If You Can Pronounce This Place Name

See If You Can Pronounce This Place Name

“Every world traveller knows the struggles of trying to fit into a foreign country’s culture. It requires remembering local customs, practicing appropriate etiquette, and (perhaps the most challenging) learning to speak like a local….

How to Honeymoon in New Zealand

How to Honeymoon in New Zealand

Wanting to take their time soaking in jagged mountains, rolling pastures, steep fjords, pristine lakes, raging rivers and scenic beaches, Indonesians Gwen Winarno and Yudha Budhisurya took a road trip in New Zealand while…

Anna Paquin Does Some Detective Work in Bellevue

Anna Paquin Does Some Detective Work in Bellevue

New Zealander Anna Paquin plays Detective Anna Ryder in the Canadian television series, Bellevue. “Paquin, whose onscreen presence guarantees an otherworldly, alienating grace, is doing more work than is first apparent,” Variety TV critic…

Sriwhana Spong Considers Monuments to Oppression

Sriwhana Spong Considers Monuments to Oppression

“A quiet but intensely powerful exhibition at San Francisco nonprofit gallery Kadist refutes the idea that we can shed the pain of the history of oppression by turning away from it,” Charles Desmarais writes…

Inspiring Cancer Story Written by Petra Kotrotsos

Inspiring Cancer Story Written by Petra Kotrotsos

Wellingtonian Petra Kotrotsos is not your average 21-year-old, according to Melbourne-based Greek community newspaper Neos Kosmos. A video blogger and aspiring filmmaker, she’s also a cancer veteran, having been through various treatments since she…

Opuio Releases Striking Ginger Lizard Video

Opuio Releases Striking Ginger Lizard Video

New Zealand-born Melbourne-based producer Oscar Davey-Wraight, aka Opiuo, has released the official video for his brand new single Ginger Lizard, which is taken from his forthcoming EP, Syzygy 01 scheduled for release on 2…

Conductor Michael Joel Directs Fine Concert

Conductor Michael Joel Directs Fine Concert

Under the direction of New Zealand-born conductor Michael Joel, the Lakeland Sinfonia “presented a programme that was well-suited to their strengths,” according to the Westmorland Gazette’s Adrian Mullen in a review of a recent…

Ice Sculptor Tatiana Zimina Competes in China

Ice Sculptor Tatiana Zimina Competes in China

New Zealander Tatiana Zimina has recently returned from northeast China where she competed in ice and snow sculpting with her partner and two friends in the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. The…

Marlon Williams Leads Fertile Lyttelton Music Scene

Marlon Williams Leads Fertile Lyttelton Music Scene

There is nothing like some personal trauma to fuel the muse of a songwriter. Acclaimed New Zealand troubadour Marlon Williams, 27, can attest to that, and the results are etched deeply into the grooves…