KEY POINTS:
Fashion designers should really have naming rights over bar concoctions. Deadly Ponies works as well for cocktails as accessories. Michael Pattison's winter collection Yoko Homo wouldn't look out of place on a drinks menu. And most designers enjoy a tipple. Take the Huffer guys. On a recent trip
to Las Vegas, co-owner Steve Dunstan survived the heat by retreating to the hotel pool and guzzling cold beer.
Predictably, Marc and Dan from Stolen Girlfriends Club love the same bar. But who would have guessed their mate Luke is a sucker for old-fashioned pina coladas? Designer Sheridah Anderson from Thomas Valentine prefers her deck to a rowdy drinking hole, and Yvonne Benetti is a fan of exotic Shanghai Lil's.
Whatever their choice of bars, designers mostly get more serious backstage. Only after the show will they be quaffing champagne or passing around the sponsor's beverage. Cheers to them all.
MICHAEL PATTISON
Michael Pattison Design
My favourite bar is SPQR on Ponsonby Rd. Why? Because sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. It's an old favourite and is always full and has a great vibe.
My favourite drink is anything with a straw in it, but I do frequent the old G&T a lot.
MARGARITA ROBERTSON
Nom*D
I think the most interesting bar in Dunedin would be Pequeno, down a secret alleyway off Moray Place. It's quite dark and velvety - you can have an intimate chat or a group of friends can pull up a comfy chair and have a good old laugh.
Favourite cocktail would be a dirty martini, introduced to me by [photographer/stylist] Karen Inderbitzen-Waller a couple of years back.
For a no-brainer, though I can't go past champagne. It's such a buzz. We drink Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle when we entertain a big group these days. It's about as close to a French champagne as you can get in New Zealand, and it's a great price. But for two people Veuve Cliquot is my fave.
STOLEN GIRLFRIENDS CLUB
Marc Moore
My favourite bar is Speak Easy on Ponsonby Rd. The music is good, you can hear anything from Kanye West through to the Strokes or the Presets on any given Saturday. The drinks are cheap - it's BYO. They have this crazy Fijian light that you can drink out of - I swear. Oh, and I had my first kiss there.
My favourite drink is 42 Below vodka on the rocks with a squeeze of lime.
Dan Gosling
My favourite bar is Speak Easy. It's where all of my friends can meet and play our own music before we go out.
My favourite drink is 42 Below with fresh lime, a dash of Red Bull and heaps of ice.
Luke Harwood
My favourite bar is the Jim Morrison, "Lizard King I can do anything bar" because it's an imaginary place I go after a few bottles of red wine.
My favourite drink is pina colada. It reminds me of surfing when I was a kid and waxing up new boards with the original Mr Zog's tropical sex wax. Plus it reminds me of being in tropical locations on holiday.
SHERIDAH ANDERSON
Thomas Valentine
My favourite bar is really a summer evening on our deck at Piha. I love watching the turquoise and pink skyline as the burning orange sun goes down. I also love dawn in Spain.
My favourite drink is lemon/lime and bitters - no ice.
STEVE DUNSTAN
Huffer
My favourite bar right now has to be at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, drinking from their bucket of beers in the pool. It's 105 degrees (40C) out, so it is so good in that crazy pool which even has sit-down blackjack - in the pool.
ADRIAN HAILWOOD
Hailwood
My favourite bar is the Musket Room in Ponsonby Rd. Try the Japanese plum and lemon grass cocktail, or a great wine from the wine list. Get some tasty treats from the tapas list, or they do a great plate from a fine dinner menu. It's a smoky atmosphere, without the smoke of course - lots of dark wooden walls, built-in seating, a good cocktail list and great staff.
YVONNE BENNETTI
My favourite bar in New Zealand is Shanghai Lil's [in the old part of the Birdcage pub on Franklin Rd]. I love the interior and the people who run the bar. You could be anywhere in the world, especially Shanghai. I guess because I have lived in Asia for so long it reminds me of my old home.
My favourite drink is Bombay Sapphire and tonic with fresh lime.
TANYA CARLSON
Carlson
I like to go to the Gypsy Tea Rooms in Richmond Rd and have a glass of Central Otago pinot noir on a Sunday afternoon. It has that lovely shabby French feeling and you can sit out in the sun and watch the strange and interesting world of West Lynn - as they call it - go by.
Overseas, I like Felix in Hong Kong. It's at the top of the Peninsula Hotel overlooking the harbour, you can watch the city lights change and feel like you're at the centre of the world.
If I'm not drinking wine, I like a good vodka. Straight. I suspect it's my Russian heritage.