Jessica Clarke is hot property on the London IT girl scene. Photo / Getty Images
The Kiwi women mixing it with London’s elite, rubbing shoulders with Prince William, Kate Moss and more stars.
London-based New Zealand women, Emilia Wickstead, Jessica McCormack, Isabella Moore and Jessica Clarke continue to stamp their names and brands loudly, mixing it up or donning their wares with (or on) the rich and famous and sometimes together.
Earlier this year Spy caught up with high-flying soprano and model Isabella Moore after she attended King Charles’ Buckingham Palace party, where she turned heads in a hand-painted Tahitian-inspired design by PIA. Moore revealed that royals in attendance included Prince William, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips.
It’s not the first time she’s been in the company of the royals. Moore told Spy she “had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Prince William” after her Commonwealth Day performance in March.
Also doing very well for herself is model and businesswoman Jessica Clarke, who Spy understands is hot property on the London IT girl scene.
This year alone Clarke has attended the 50th birthday bashes of British fashion Icons Kate Moss in Paris and Victoria Beckham in London.
Palmerston North-raised Clarke, 31, who was New Zealand’s first Victoria’s Secret model in 2011, was first discovered at age 15, and by age 17 had walked the runways on the international fashion month circuit — Milan, Paris, New York and London.
Many magazine covers later, with a flourishing mushroom supplement business in the mix, Clarke is now based in the UK, and in a relationship with sports agent Dave Gardner, who is a good friend and business partner of UK football star David Beckham.
In a recent Hello! Magazine exclusive, Clarke revealed she and Gardner live together in London with their labrador puppy.
The pair make UK media headlines at the many A-list events they attend together, including at last year’s Netflix Beckham documentary premiere.
In her Hello! interview, Clarke explained that some of her besties are fellow model Arizona Muse, English producer and actress Gala Gordon, whom Clarke has known for over a decade, and actress and model Poppy Delevingne.
When Spy revealed that fellow London-based Kiwi Renee Stewart and her boyfriend Adam Sumner were at James Blunt’s Ibiza home for a friend’s birthday in June, Delevingne was also in attendance.
On the same weekend, Delevigne was with Clarke on a girls’ getaway with Delevingne in Ibiza.
At Glastonbury last month, Clarke and Gardner’s crew included English actress, model and socialite Jazzy de Lisser, frontman for The Big Pink rock band Robbie Furze and his wife Lady Mary Olivia Charteris Furze.
Last year, Clarke told Viva about her business Mother Made, which she co-founded in 2021 alongside her long-time best friend and fellow entrepreneur, Emily Blanchett.
Together, the duo are pioneering the charge for medicinal mushrooms in Aotearoa through their selection of mushroom-centric wellness powders and supplements. The business is also gaining attention in the UK.
Earlier this year, UK pop star and honorary Kiwi, Rita Ora, made headlines donning a T-shirt by Mother Made with I Love Mushrooms emblazoned on it.
Last year Clarke was in a campaign for London-based New Zealand jewellery designer Jessica McCormack, who’s making waves of her own in the UK.
Christchurch-born McCormack’s diamond jewellery brand, which she founded 16 years ago, has a reported turnover of just over $60 million.
In January, the UK’s Financial Times reported that McCormack has tripled the size of her business in the past three years.
McCormack has garnered a loyal following of high-profile and celebrity clients, including Victoria Beckham, Meghan Markle, Rihanna, Dakota Johnson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Emma Watson.
Earlier this year, McCormack, 43, announced Hollywood star Zoë Kravitz as her first official global brand ambassador.
Last year McCormack added to the retail offering of her expansive flagship townhouse on Carlos Place Mayfair, with a new store on chic Sloane St. She recently announced a new chief executive, Leonie Brantberg, previously Burberry’s head of strategy, to steer the brand’s further growth.
Also on Sloane St is the store of a fellow Kiwi, fashion designer Emilia Wickstead.
In 2020, McCormack and Wickstead partnered to create a jewellery collection that honoured their New Zealand heritage.
Wickstead, 41, has been based on Sloane St for 10 years; in 2023 the designer opened a mega store a few doors down Sloane, complete with an upstairs bar, an accessories section and a VIP suite from which Wickstead operates her other specialty made-to-measure and bridal services, as well as creating bespoke fashion.
Like McCormack, Wickstead has dressed Emma Watson with her creations. Her other A-list clients include Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Kruger, Olivia Colman and most recently fellow Kiwi Thomasin McKenzie.
It’s well documented how Wickstead became the go-to designer for the British aristocracy, most famously Catherine, Princess of Wales.
However, it seems London’s not the only metropolis she loves; Wickstead’s Resort 2024 campaign was shot on the streets of New York City and described as her love letter to the city, where she worked in magazines and fashion when she was 21.
Ricardo Simich is the Herald’s Spy Editor. Based in Auckland he covers all roads that lead to popular culture.