Retail therapy: To wag or not to wag

Celebrity endorsement is all very well for a designer if it's Kate Moss or Sienna Miller wearing your bags or gear. But if it's a WAG (Brit-speak for footballers' wives and girlfriends), well that's another story, reports Britain's Daily Telegraph.

It has an official name now: "being WAGGED". That's if the wrong type - say queen WAG Victoria Beckham - is snapped with your hot bag. The Telegraph reports that when Tom Ford was at Gucci, he saw Posh out in his gear and demanded to know how she got hold of it.

When he was told she bought the clothes full price like the rest of us mortals, he apparently said: "Well, somebody stop her!" She's credited with taking the shine off the coveted Hermes Birkin bag by owning it in several colours.

The latest label in danger of being WAGGED is Chanel - Posh was at their couture show in Paris and is now wearing one of the classic, chain-handled bags. The newspaper speculates whether Lanvin's platform shoes, as seen on Peter Crouch's former girlfriend Abigail Clancy, Chloe's latest bag the Edith, and Stella McCartney's bags are also set to be WAGGED.

Get ahead of the pack

Summer Lovin' is a black tie event with a fashion preview for a good cause. The aim is to raise $20,000 for the cancer charity Canteen. Aside from previews of what Annah Stretton and Barkers menswear have coming up, there's also a hair show by Servilles, a parade of the Cleo 2006 Bachelor of the Year finalists and music by Graham Brazier and Sarah Brown. All this and Jackie Clark as host. Gold tickets are $125 and general admission $25 from Barkers Takapuna store or from www.yourfashionevent.com

Boulevard of dreams

Now that Nuffield Street is open, we're pleased to say it's living up to all the hype. Any excuse to indulge in yet more retail therapy. The reality of whipping down to a single precinct to pick up Alannah Hill frippery, cool gear from Superette, a bush shirt from Swanndri, some rocks at Angela Daniel Jewellery, a collegiate look in full Abercrombie & Fitch regalia at General Issue, cult makeup at Glamorpuss, Lanvin shoes at Runway and anything else that takes our fancy from the 29 shops makes for an excellent day out.

Designer shows

If you don't have a ticket to Air New Zealand Fashion Week, don't despair. You can still be part of the action. Tickets have just gone onsale for designer selection shows, planned for three nights during Fashion Week (September 19-21) starting at 9.30pm.

The shows will feature new summer fashion and highlights of upcoming winter 2007 collections from all of the designers. They will also include a mini pre-show by Supre, Bendon and Mitchell by Liz Mitchell at Farmers and L'Oreal makeup artists will give tips on how to get the models' look from some of the collection shows. Goodie bags are included.

Tickets also give you access to the Fashion Week venue so you can book into the restaurant or drink at one of the five bars on site. For ticket information visit www.nzfashionweek.com/public.html

Model behaviour

New Zealand models hoping to shine at this year's Fashion Week will have some serious competition.

Samantha Harris, the Aboriginal Australian model who caught the attention of all at Fashion Week in Sydney, will be taking to the runway.

Last year Harris, 15, was chosen by photographer Patrick Demarchelier to take part in a shoot for US Glamour magazine on the world's most iconic beauties.