KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's fashion vanguard descended on Bellini bar at the Hilton Auckland for the fifth annual Designer Shake-Off cocktail competition on Thursday night.
Representatives from Zambesi, Huffer, Lonely Hearts, Yvonne Bennetti, Stolen Girlfriends Club, Juliette Hogan and Sera Lilly tested whether their talents crossed over into a talent for designing cocktails, as judged by Petra Bagust, Air New Zealand Fashion Week managing director Pieter Stewart and Hilton Auckland general manager John Ingram.
This year the judges expected stiff competition after Claire Kingan-Jones set a lofty benchmark with last year's winning cocktail, Solitaire.
Did the 2007 team match her high standard? The judges seemed to think so, and Yvonne Bennetti took home a trip to Melbourne for two for her stellar effort.
HIGH POINT
Seeing Stolen Girlfriends Club designer Marc Moore and Huffer's Steve Dunstan each swigging vodka straight from the bottle - their collaborative drink wasn't called The Desperado for nothing!
LOW POINT
The rotten weather travelling at speed down the wind tunnel known as Princes Wharf - hardly conducive to a glamorous night out.
- Flash, NZHERALD