KEY POINTS:
Now all the groovy parents who own Richard ... son T-shirts can dress their mini-me in equally chic duds. The designer of the extremely likeable graphics, Stephen Richardson, has started making shirts for toddlers as well and these are available from his own website and the newly-moved Eon
design store on Customs St. The website is well worth checking out. Richard ... son is selling a gorgeously eclectic collection of goods online, similar to that stocked in the Parnell Rise store. You'll find Marimekko T-shirts and homewares alongside modish Australian retro-style sneakers and cult toys, at www.richardsonpourhomme.com
Cheap cheap
Sabatini is having a sale of summer knit dresses, cardigans, tops and jackets at wholesale prices. Be quick though. It's a three-day offer from 10am-6pm today and Friday and Saturday from 9am-2pm at 180 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill
Eco-fashionable
Wellington fashion label Starfish, run by designer Laurie Foon, has won a national award for its sustainable business practices. The label had already been recognised as an Emerging Sustainable Business Leader in the regional competition, run by the Sustainable Business Network, and then went on to win again at a national level.
Judges considered a range of factors, from energy use to transport issues and family-friendly employment policies. Starfish won its award for its fabric sourcing policies and its commitment to waste and packaging reduction.
The overall winner was Tauranga furniture design firm, DesignMobel, which makes some of the best-looking bedroom furnishings in New Zealand, with a distinctly international flavour. DesignMobel has just opened three flagship stores, all called Okooko, in Wellington, Hong Kong and in the US - proving that being environmentally friendly doesn't mean you're an old-fashioned hippie.
Hard on the heels
Out now is A Girl for all Seasons, the new book by British fashion writer Camilla Morton. Her first book, How to Walk in High Heels (The Girl's Guide to Everything) was apparently a British bestseller, and this title doesn't trip-trop too far from that well-traversed terrain. It's mainly the set-out that's different. Morton works her way through the days of each month and advises on important matters such as dieting in January after making your resolutions, kissing your Valentine in February, going sailing during the European summer, holding a masked ball in October and so forth. Possibly best of all, though, are letters and advice from Morton's famous buddies, including supermodel Gisele Bundchen, shoemaker to the stars Manolo Blahnik, John Galliano and Dita von Teese. $39.99.
Rock on in
The old New York home of the CBGB club is going upscale - a John Varvatos menswear store is opening in the dingy space once occupied by the club that spawned bands such as the Ramones, Television and Talking Heads.
The new outlet will open in March.
"There's definitely going to be a feeling that you've been there before," Varvatos said of the space at 315 Bowery, outside which the familiar CBGB awning hung for 33 years. "I want to create something with a little bit of the heart and soul from what was there."
Varvatos has signed a long-term lease for the property. His store will have no affiliation with CBGB or the family of its owner, Hilly Kristal, who died in August.
"We're not recreating CBGB ... we're not exploiting the name," said the 52-year-old designer, who recalled seeing the Ramones in the now-shuttered club. The design for the space would make it a "rock and roll type of store," with live bands once a month and clothing designed specifically for it, he said.
Don't expect ripped jeans and safety pins. Think chocolate-washed corduroy button-front vests and nutmeg silk skinny ties, features of Varvatos' fall/winter collection.
His menswear line is closely associated with several musicians, including Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Ryan Adams and Chris Cornell.
It will be the sixth Varvatos outlet, joining two on the West Coast, one in Las Vegas, one in Manhattan and one in East Hampton.
