Where are Karen Walker and Mikhail Gherman spending the summer? What sunscreen is in Dame Pieter Stewart’s beach bag? Who’s on Murray Crane’s holiday playlist?
Our favourite fashion industry insiders share their secret New Zealand getaway spots, and what they do when they get there.
KAREN WALKER
designer, Karen Walker
What’s your secret summer spot?
Not so secret, but Waiheke Island. I always stay at Azure, a fab beach house on the cliff between Big and Little Oneroa.
What will you be wearing on your summer escape?
Karen Walker eyewear and our new oversized straw hat – the sun has no chance!
What’s on your summer reading list?
A year’s worth of Vanity Fair.
Where will you be for Christmas and NYE?
I’m away from home over 100 nights a year and flew around 200,000 km this year, so Christmas always sees me enjoying the comforts of home.
ZOE WILLIAMS
designer, Zoe & Morgan
Are you a camper or a glamper?
We are a glamping family. It’s a nice way to end the year to live simply – albeit with a few luxuries.
What’s your secret summer spot?
Queenstown. I love to drive to Glenorchy, take in the vast views and mountain energy, and go on the glorious bush walks. It’s so inspiring to be immersed in nature, an annual dose of
that beauty keeps me going throughout the year.
What’s on your summer reading list?
The Monocle Guide to Good Business.
What does summer in NZ mean to you?
A break from my normal routines, salt in my hair, late evenings star-gazing, fresh in-season food, gatherings with friends, loads of music, and minimal computer time.
MARC MOORE
designer, Stolen Girlfriends Club
What’s your secret summer spot?
There’s a little secret beach near Te Ngaere Bay up north that’s amazing. It gets great little waves and it’s just so picturesque. You feel like you’re in South America.
What will you be wearing on your summer escape?
Definitely Stolen eyewear.
What tune will you have on repeat this summer?
Mac DeMarco – Chamber of Reflection.
What do you hope is in your Christmas stocking?
A new Haydenshapes surfboard.
MURRAY CRANE
designer, Crane Brothers
What’s your secret summer spot?
I love Piha but it’s hardly a secret. I recently rediscovered Pauanui which has become very unfashionable with Aucklanders so that’s pretty relaxing.
What’s a must-do activity there?
Reading. It’s the only time I ever find the opportunity.
What’s the best local eatery?
Pauanui: fish and chips or wood-fired pizza. Piha: RSA.
What tune will you have on repeat this summer?
The Byrds, Gene Clark, Steely Dan, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons are a good start.
KYLIE COOKE
stylist
What’s your secret summer spot?
Waipero Bay on the East Cape. I love the Cape because it still feels raw and untouched; it hasn’t been developed.
What’s the best local eatery?
The takeaway makes the best paua fritters I’ve ever eaten.
What will you be wearing on your summer escape?
My Romanian embroidered kaftan that I picked up second-hand in Bali.
What’s on your summer reading list?
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – I’m yet to read this classic.
Where will you be for Christmas and NYE?
In LA if I have my way!
What do you hope is in your Christmas stocking?
Return tickets to LA.
LIAM BOWDEN
designer, Deadly Ponies
Are you a camper or a glamper?
Definitely a glamper, last time we went camping we erected a castle and we were referred to by all our friends as the ‘village dads’.
What’s your secret summer spot?
Stafer Bay, a tiny bay 40 minutes out of Whangarei. I’ve been going there since I was five – there are a lot of memories and it’s so easy to unwind.
What’s a must-do activity there?
Dinner on the beach at Whale Bay, the bay next to Stafer.
What’s on your summer reading list?
I would like to say some thoughtful literature, however, it will more likely be whatever teen trilogy is hot this year.
DAME PIETER STEWART
founder, New Zealand Fashion Week
What’s your secret summer spot?
We have a bach in the Marlborough Sounds where we’ve spent every summer for the past 42 years. We only have boat access and love the isolation with just a few houses in our bay.
What’s the best local eatery?
That’s the beauty of it – no shops or restaurants within easy reach. Apart from our small vegetable garden I buy most of my fresh vegetables in Blenheim and on shopping days, we often go to lunch at one of the fabulous Marlborough wineries.
Where will you be for Christmas and NYE?
At the Sounds House with all the family. It’s set up for all the children, their partners and the grandchildren. We are really lucky that they’ll all be there again this year. It’s not a given that your family can all be together when they are adults.
What do you hope is in your Christmas stocking?
The special little things that the grandchildren make with such love and seriousness.
SALLY-ANN MULLIN
editor, Fashion Quarterly
Are you a camper or a glamper?
I have never been glamping, but I have camped all my life and I love it. There is something so special about a quintessential Kiwi summer spent in a tent – canvas mind you, never plastic.
What’s your secret summer spot?
Matai Bay in Cape Karikari. White sand and blue water just like the islands, but only a four-hour drive from Auckland.
What beauty products will you be taking?
La Mer The Reparative SkinTint SPF30 and Kiehl’s Crème de Corps for post-beach hydration.
What tune will you have on repeat this summer?
BTSTU by Jai Paul, or Hotline Bling by Drake.
What does summer in NZ mean to you?
I grew up in a beach town and summer here is one of the top reasons I don’t live anywhere else.
LUCY VINCENT-MARR
director, Sans [ceuticals]
What’s your secret summer spot?
Golden Bay in Nelson, I love the relaxed, hippie vibe.
What’s a must-do activity there?
Visit the local ceramic studio. The woman there is amazing and last time she let me have an afternoon on her wheel.
What beauty product won’t you be leaving behind?
Sans [ceuticals] Activator 7 Face + Body + Hair Oil, because it’s designed to do everything.
What tune will you have on repeat?
Wakin’ on a Pretty Day by Kurt Vile.
