The best leather pieces you should invest in this season

3 Jun 2020

In the spirit of investing in made-to-last wardrobe staples, we can’t overlook leather as one of fashion’s most hardworking materials, with designers utilising the sturdy and versatile textile in more ways than ever before.

No longer relegated just to your favourite pair of trusty shoes or handbag, why not step out in a pair of leather culottes, a leather jacket or a suede skirt? Now that many of us are out and about in the “real world” again and aware that the temperature has noticeably dropped, there’s no better time to take a closer look at leather.

Charlotte suede skirt from Dadelszen, Christopher Esber Charlie tuck short from Muse, Trench coat from Louis Vuitton.

Colour In
While classic black will always be in style, the autumn/winter 2020 international collections showcased vivid iterations of coloured leather in various shades; from electric blue at Mugler to oxblood outerwear at Lanvin and artful patchwork suede at Marni. Be inspired to reach for one of the tinted pieces on offer locally.

Ena Pelly New York biker jacket from Superette. Ganni grain leather jacket from Workshop. Cream leather jacket from Dior.

Outer Layer
You’ll never regret adding a leather jacket to your rotation. Recent interpretations play with proportion for an oversized fit and fresh washes including cream and warm brown.

Liberation leather mini skirt from Aje. Frame Denim skinny leather trousers from Superette. Remain Birger Christensen Bellis leather midi-skirt from Net-a-Porter.

Leg It
Stepping out in a pair of leather trousers needn’t be as intimidating as it sounds. Fans of a polished style will love the pairing of a crisp white shirt worn untucked, or an oversized knit and coat for a more relaxed textural look.

Cobu leather jacket from Dadelszen. Leather shirt from Gucci. Reversible suede bomber jacket from Ermenegildo Zegna.

For The Boys
Luxurious leather and impeccable menswear are a match made in heaven; all that’s left to decide is how you want to wear it. For corporate casual that still says chairman of the board or polished weekend cool, leather is now the preference for professionals in search of an edge.

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Accessory designer and Muse buyer Rebe Burgess on podcasts and Phoebe Philo

2 Jun 2020

As the person in charge of curating the offering at one of Auckland’s top fashion destinations, Muse Boutique buyer and digital manager Rebe Burgess knows more than a thing or two about style. Having come on board with the store five years ago, Rebe also launched her eponymous accessories label around the same time, providing New Zealand’s most fashionable with elevated pieces to cherish. Always a friendly face to see at either of Muse’s two locations, Rebe shares her suitably stylish influences and inspirations.

My personal style can be defined as: Classic.

The last thing I bought and loved was: An oversized black boyfriend blazer I bought in Paris on my last buying trip – it’s what I would currently define as the perfect blazer.

An unforgettable place I visited was: Apulia, Italy.

The next place I’d like to travel to: Paris, my favourite city.

On my wish list is: These beautiful hoop earrings by Australian brand Minelareir. Soon to be available at MUSE.

An object I would never part with is: My collection of books!

The person, that inspires me is: Designer Phoebe Philo at Celine, 2008 – 2018.

The last thing I added to my wardrobe was: The Christopher Esber Deconstruction Knit in Green Multi – the most insane colour combination.

My favourite app is: Spotify.

An indulgence I would never forgo is: A massage.

If I had to limit my shopping to one neighbourhood in one city it would be: Newmarket, Auckland.

I can’t miss an episode of: Ozark.

In my fridge you’ll always find: Olives.

My favourite room in my house is: My bedroom.

The last meal out I had that truly impressed me was: It was my first meal out after NZs lockdown was lifted- the pork cotoletta (Italian schnitzel) at Rosie in Parnell, it was sooo good.

I recently discovered: The Kindle – I know I’m late to the party but it’s life-changing! I was given one a couple of months ago and I’ve been reading more than ever.

The people I rely on for my wellbeing are: My family.

My favourite website is: Sala’s online studio.

The one artist whose work I would collect is: Holly Burgess’ (photographer) beautiful prints.

The podcasts I listen to are: NRP (How I Built This), After Work Drinks, Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations.

The beauty product I can’t live without is: I have two! Sunscreen (especially PCA Skin Weightless Protection) and Doctor Rogers Restore Healing Balm – I get really dry lips.

Music I’m currently listening to: Valium by No Cigar! Kiwi guys.

If I wasn’t doing what I am, I would be: A Marine Biologist.

I have a collection of: Blazers.

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From Barre to HIIT, get a sweat on with these at-home workouts

Thanks to online workouts, the convenience of exercising at home is hard to ignore. You don’t have to hop on a plane to benefit from the expertise of many top international fitness trainers, and whether you’re after a high-intensity sweat session or core-toning Pilates class, there’s something out there for you.

Here, we present our comprehensive guide to some of our favourite local and international online fitness classes.

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Alo Yoga

Originating in Los Angeles, Alo Yoga is an all-encompassing health brand that aims to spread mindful movement and inspiring wellness by creating a community. Download its app Arlomoves which allows you to practice yoga at any time of the day, as well as enrol in yoga and meditation workshops with some of the world’s most exceptional teachers.

Visit the website here.

Barre Body

A range of instructors from the respected Australian studio will take you through classes from dance cardio to Barre So Hard. As well as online support you can be directed to specific classes to help you achieve goals, from weight loss, toning to general mental health. Founder Emma Seibold offers a five-day trial before your subscription high kicks in.

Visit the website here.

Eastwest Yoga

Get your zen on with popular Ponsonby Road studio Eastwest Yoga, which offers a mix of classic Hatha, Vinyasa and Yin yoga. Its online classes include new practices added weekly, a variety of styles, durations and teachers and sliding scale pricing – so you can pay from $5 to $35 depending on your financial situation. This gives at-home yogis unlimited access to classes, with no contract involved.

Visit the website here.

Barre3

With 128,000 social media followers, Barre3 founder Sadie Lincoln is focused on bringing barre balance to women of all sizes with classes that combine strength conditioning, movement and mindfulness. You can subscribe to access a range of workouts running from 10–60 minutes or follow Barre3’s Instagram where they occasionally post free workouts.

Visit the website here.

Barrefigure

Former New York barre class addict Marysa Theiler brought her fusion of ballet barre, yoga and pilates back home to New Zealand. The online videos run from 15 – 30 minutes and carefully outline what you will need, from balls, dumbbells to cushions and other items found around the house. Enjoy an ab-targeted session or all over body workout.

Visit the website here.

Centr

Whether you want to look like Chris Hemsworth or look at the Thor star, his Centr fitness app offers instant gratification. You can test out Hemsworth and his fitness team for a seven-day trial, and the best value 12-month subscription package is only $10.42 per month.

Experts, such as A-list trainer Luke Zocchi and Mrs Thor Elsa Pataky, will take you through classes where you can set your goals and intensity levels. And you don’t need a hammer or a cape.

Club Pilates

US fitness chain Club Pilates is known for its reformer-based classes but while it’s lockdown over there is regularly streaming free mat classes on its Facebook page – no reason why we can’t take advantage of them too!

Thanks to time zones Club Pilates’ afternoon LA workout is your mid-morning refresher. Visit the page in advance to see whether the class will be 10 minutes, 20 minutes or a bumper 45 minutes. The teachers will also flag any required equipment.

Core Collective

City Works Depot Pilates studio Core Collective is well-worth an IRL visit given its light and bright studio and expert instructors. However, if you can’t make it in the team offers Core at Home, a collection of great classes on its website.

With a ‘pay as you feel’ system, Core at Home is a good way to keep those muscles in shape between visits or see if you like the studio’s classes before making the trip.

Visit the website here.

Les Mills

The country’s biggest gym Les Mills has its internationally respected classes available online too. Visit the Les Mills On Demand tab for 800+ Les Mills workouts at your fingertips, with 15+ new workouts added every week.

Trial the range of classes for 14 days before signing up and be a part of New Zealand’s largest fitness community. If you’re already a member of a Les Mills club in New Zealand, you can now subscribe for a special price of $9.95 a month. Check the Les Mills Instagram for updates.

Sala

While boutique Ponsonby workout space Sala is now back open, its slickly-designed online studio makes working out from home nearly as much of a pleasure.

Londoner Sarah Lindsay created Sala to give Auckland the kind of workout she missed after leaving England. Its online classes, including Pilates HIIT, yoga, and meditation, offer a variety of workouts for whatever you’re feeling like.

Membership is $25 per month and each session comes with a carefully curated playlist.

Studio Box

The brainchild of Black Sticks star and celebrity trainer, Dwayne Rowsell, Studio Box in Newmarket has been offering calorie-blitzing, muscle-toning classes since opening last year.
Roswell was quick to step up to recent challenges by offering a series of at-home workouts that include HIIT and boxing via Zoom.

There’s also a Studio Box Spotify playlist to help create some atmosphere. The best things about Rowsell’s workouts and updates is that he doesn’t make it look easy. Watching the athlete sweat alongside you is the perfect motivation. Check @_studiobox for updates.

Thrive Pilates

We all managed to master Zoom for work meetings, school check-ins and late night cocktail parties, now we can turn it towards maintaining a cool core with live pilates classes from Thrive Pilates.

Instructors will be looking at you and correcting your form (although you can switch off the camera if you haven’t had an opportunity to curate the backdrop of your ‘fitness zone/hallway’). Classes are at 7am, 12pm and 6pm on weekdays and 9am on weekends. Pay and book for classes through the website and take a look at the Instagram page to see how your classmates are keeping up.

Wundabar Pilates

Take advantage of the 7-day free trial offered by WundaBar Pilates founder Amy Jordan. Based in the US, Jordan takes a more cardio-focused approach to Pilates, getting the blood pumping. “I often hear people say: ‘Oh, you teach Pilates? That’s stretching, right?’ But we do our work eccentrically,” Jordan says, “which is a fancy way of saying in length. So you will elongate your muscles as you sculpt them.” On-demand classes are typically 30 minutes, which will be long enough to feel the burn.

Yoga with Kylie

Having completed both a Bachelor of Nursing degree and training to become a Yoga Medicine Registered Therapeutic Specialist, Auckland-based yoga instructor Kylie Rook aims to make yoga accessible to everyone. She teaches a range of practices and hosts classes via a live-stream on Namastream via her website.

Membership is an affordable $20 per month, with a free 14-day trial currently available.

How to prepare your pets for separation anxiety

Words Damien Woolnough | 2 Jun 2020

One of the great advantages of working and partying from home has been forging closer bonds with our four-legged friends. Pets have provided company for many people during social isolation, with dogs’ tails stuck in permanent wag mode and cats now reportedly offering affection. With restrictions lifting and people returning to offices and nights on the town, pets can sense change in the air and the shift in your habits can lead to stress and anxiety.

To help your pet cope with change and prevent your shoe cupboard from being decimated in anger, here are some tips for helping Fido or Fifi adjust to the new normal.

1. Foster independence
In anticipation of separation, make sure that your pet is perfectly prepared to occupy themselves on their own, without sitting at your feet 24/7 while you’re on the computer (guilty). Use toys or treats to encourage independent play.

2. Return to a routine
While you’ve been working from home it’s been fun to take walks at all hours and indulge in shared treat times but it’s important to slowly return to your regular routine. Start walking your dog at the usual before work or evening hours and try to stick to regular meal times.

3. Eat Apart
When it comes to pleasure, meal time tops the charts for pets, although cats seem to take equal joy in playing staring games. To show that your pets can have fun without you being close by, establish their eating area in a separate room such as the laundry or even outside

4. Maintain exercise
Your dog may be used to longer walks than usual as you work from your phone and break up the long days but make sure that you slowly return to a level of exercise that you are able to maintain alongside your usual working hours.

5. Spend more time apart
It’ not them, it’s you. Rather than just ghosting your pet, leaving them fretting, slowly increase the amount of time that you spend apart before returning to eight hours of absentee pet parenting.

6. Go Green
While this is not available yet, keep a birds’ eye on New Zealand CBD pioneers Helius Therapeutics who have invested $2.5 million to establish Helius Animal Health. Expanding their focus beyond the health of us humans, the new Helius branch will develop therapeutic products to combat pet anxiety and stress, along with more serious conditions such as seizures, arthritis and skin conditions.

www.helius.co.nz

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Your last chance to secure one of Grey Lynn’s most exciting new terrace homes

Words Mina Kerr-lazenby | 2 Jun 2020

The natural beauty and cultural success of New Zealand has always drawn global attention but now we are front and centre internationally thanks to our determined community spirit. As optimists look ahead, the desire to be a part of that vibrant community, particularly in a pocket of Grey Lynn, is particularly strong. Only recently launched, pioneering residential development The Hadlow is selling quickly, with construction now set to begin at the end of 2020. Thanks to its unique approach to creating an urban village, the enthusiasm for making The Hadlow a home is easy to understand, with only a handful of the desirable properties left.

Nestled in the heart of Grey Lynn, The Hadlow is a development ideal for those who are wanting the village lifestyle without having to leave behind the benefits of inner-city dwelling. Conceived by the architectural visionaries at Leuschke Group, it comes as no surprise that much of The Hadlow’s allure is down to the impeccable design, both indoors and out.

Each spacious residence, divided by concrete intertenancy walls, follows an open floor plan whereby the kitchen and lounge area connect, and a sliding door between the living quarters and the greenery-drenched private courtyard ensure that the flow between indoors and outdoors is seamless. The residences are characterised by earthy materials, and thus play host to sleek timber furnishings — like the kitchen cupboards and wardrobe doors in the bedroom — and marble tiling, which can be found across the walls of the refined and modernistic bathrooms.

Once outside, each terraced abode boasts a luxurious façade made up of brick slicked in stark white paint with dark timber and metallic detailing. Whether it’s dripping from the window balconies or lining the car park spaces, protruding from the private courtyards or hedged between each residence, flourishing mature greenery can be found peppered throughout the outdoor spaces.

The Hadlow has, after all, been designed to connect residents to their natural environment, not only to provide a stronger sense of community, but also to encourage them to live a more sustainable lifestyle. To encourage farm-to-table cooking at home and general eco-living, in addition to standard neighbourliness and community spirit, a private, communal vegetable garden is available for resident green thumbs. Even the car-share facility, spread across three car parking spaces, will provide the latest model of electric car for residents to use.

When health-conscious Hadlow inhabitants aren’t kicking back in their private courtyard or tending to their flourishing vegetable patches, they can partake in the countless boot camps and fitness groups that are held at the local parks. Dining options are plentiful too: whether it’s a coffee and a spot of brunch or a heartier dinner complete with a glass of wine that incites intrigue, a multitude of cafes, eateries, bars, restaurants and local markets are on hand to satiate local gastronomes.

Needless to say, The Hadlow is set to be an inner-city sanctuary that offers an unparalleled experience to its residents. Intertwining every perk of both the relaxed-village and inner-city lifestyles, there’s no questioning the demand for Grey Lynn’s newest residential offering.

www.thehadlow.co.nz

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This grand residence gets an utterly impressive modern makeover

Words Damien Woolnough | PHOTOS Sharyn Cairns | 2 Jun 2020

Transforming a majestic house into an intimate family home was somewhat of a personal project for Alex Hopkins, principal of Studio Tate. Hopkins had known the owners of the imposing Melbourne residence, built in 1899, for 15 years, having babysat their children during her university years.

Miele pyrolytic single oven from Kouzina

When the design director was originally called in to update one of the children’s bedrooms, her natural understanding of the owner’s needs became so apparent that she ended up staying on for the whole project.

Hopkins was able to apply her intrinsic understanding of the family’s movements to gently reconfiguring the four bedroom home’s spatial layout, adding a contemporary and convivial feel to the living spaces while paying respect to such heritage features as the grand arches and liberal smattering of spectacular stained glass.

Lambert & Fils Laurent pendant from Backhouse, B&B Italia Charles sofa from Matisse

To highlight the architectural details of the home, originally built for a turn of the century mining magnate, Hopkins adhered to a mostly monochromatic palette, using personal furniture selections and dynamic art to inject unexpected touches of playfulness to potentially intimidating spaces. A cowhide Corbusier Lounge adds a hint of curvaceous sensuality to the geometric rigour of the layout while Flemming Lassen’s Tired Man armchair is a textural invitation to relax.

The bedrooms celebrate the home’s history but the kitchen and bathrooms offer pure contemporary convenience. The kitchen is anchored by the stone benchtop, extended to take advantage of the verdant view beyond the steel framed windows, creating a casual eating area alternative to the more formal dining room.

Rather than dramatically transform the house, Hopkins added nuance and contemporary consideration to enhance its intrinsic beauty, applying an enduring new layer to her friendship with the owners along the way.

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The classic children’s book that Hollywood and the Royal Family are queuing up to read

Words Damien Woolnough | 2 Jun 2020

Homegrown hero Taika Waititi is taking a break from directing to put his feet up with a good book, along with some close friends, who he admits, just so happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment and even royalty.

In an effort to raise money for charities assisting those impacted by Covid-19, Waiti is reading Roald Dahl’s delicious classic James and the Giant Peach. On the author’s YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LDBdpNMRc

While children are sure to get a kick from James’s legendary adventures, grown ups get to gawk at the bookshelves and backdrops of stars such as Cate Blanchett, Chris Hemsworth, Meryl Streep and Benedict Cumberbatch (holed up in NZ), as they zoom on in for readings for the 10 episodes of James and the Giant Peach with Taika and Friends.

Many of the actors can be found on the end credits of Waiti’s directing work on the Marvel Thor franchise and Oscar-winning tearjerker JoJo Rabbit but the appearance of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in a recent episode was a surprise piece of casting.

“I hope this campaign will raise vital funds to support those most in need at this very challenging time—as well as helping families and children currently in lockdown to find a moment of comfort through the joy of reading,” the Duchess said.

The YouTube series is homework for Waiti who is also preparing to write, direct and executive produce two animated series based on Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for streaming service Netflix.

“Being an adult child myself and having read James and the Giant Peach to my girls multiple times, I’m excited to be able to partner with my friends, the Dahl team and Partners In Health and re-tell this story to help those most in need right now,” Waititi said.

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Alo Yoga

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Barre Body

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Eastwest Yoga

Eastwest Yoga

Barre3

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Barrefigure

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Centr

Centr

Club Pilates

Club Pilates

Core Collective

Core Collective

Les Mills

Les Mills

Sala

Sala

Studio Box

Studio Box

Thrive Pilates

Thrive Pilates

Wundabar Pilates

Wundabar Pilates

Yoga with Kylie

Yoga with Kylie

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