Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. This week, property developer Nigel McKenna and wellness entrepreneur make wedding plans; inside Jaimee Lupton’s US business trip; and meet the women behind The Luxury Network NZ.
Society Insider: Property developer Nigel McKenna and spa star Sarisa Nasinprom to wed; inside Jaimee Lupton and Nick Mowbray’s trip to the US; celeb stylist Gab Waller’s visit to NZ with The Luxury Network
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Sarisa Nasinprom and Nigel McKenna are getting married; Nick Mowbray and Jaimee Lupton have been enjoying their US trip, including dinner with friends Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively; celebrity stylist to the stars Gab Waller has been in NZ, thanks to The Luxury Network NZ. Photo / Herald composite
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“Nigel took me to a private dinner at Baduzzi, hosted by Michael Dearth, to mark the occasion,” Nasinprom tells Society Insider.
“At dinner, Nigel reached into his pocket and took out a small case, inside which was the ring, still the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen.
“I was dazzled and almost speechless. All I can remember is saying yes and yes again.”
It wasn’t the first time McKenna had propositioned Nasinprom, but this time it was with her dream ring.
“On our first anniversary, Nigel took me to stay at the Belmond Splendido, in Portofino, a wonderfully romantic hideaway on the Italian Riviera and a place I had long dreamed of going to,” says Nasinprom.
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“There he proposed to me – but he had no ring.”
Five months later, McKenna took Nasinprom to Dublin, a city close to his heart and where he’d gone to university.
“Nigel surprised me once again when he took me to Weir and Sons, the city’s oldest jewellery store. There we selected the stunning ring that he gave me last week,” – a three-carat oval-shaped diamond solitaire.
Why did it take two years to give it to her? Nasinprom, 39, says any time she asked when she might get the ring, he would smile and say, “We have to plan our wedding properly”.
Nasinprom moved to New Zealand from Thailand nine years ago. She has qualifications in tourism, hotel management, and property investment, and has worked at luxury hotels and spas throughout Asia, Europe, and the US. She also has a diploma in Business Management from Economic Development NZ.
After meeting McKenna in 2022, the pair found they had many things in common.
“Nigel and I fell in love very, very quickly and we became inseparable,” she says.
UK-born and raised McKenna, 62, has helmed multimillion-dollar projects including The Metropolis, Lighter Quay, The Quadrant, The Sebel, and the Sofitel in Auckland; the Hilton in Queenstown; and InterContinental in Fiji. He is the founder and chairman of a multibillion-dollar property development company Templeton Group.
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The pair have travelled extensively together, researching the world’s best luxury hotels and spas in Asia and Europe for McKenna’s developments and to develop an ambition of Nasinprom’s, to open her own world-class luxury spa and wellness centre.
Early last year, Templeton Group opened The Abstract, a $100m New York-style boutique hotel and residences on Upper Queen St.
On the hotel’s ground floor is Nasinprom’s luxury spa and wellness centre Sa-Ni, a traditional Thai spa that focuses on relaxation, meditation, mindfulness and healing. It won the Luxury Traditional Thai and Best Interior Design categories for Australia and Oceania, and the Luxury Urban Escape category for Australasia at the World Luxury Spa Awards in 2024.
The couple have new Sa-Ni offerings in the pipeline in two new Templeton Group developments, Warkworth Ridge, north of Auckland, and in Central Otago at Waikerikeri Station.
Nasinprom loves McKenna’s romantic side and the pair are now looking forward to their 2026 wedding. After scouting numerous locations, the pair have settled on the luxurious Four Seasons Resort in Chiang Mai, in Thailand early next year.
Inside Jaimee Lupton and Nick Mowbray’s celeb-spotted trip to the US
Billionaire Zuru co-founder Nick Mowbray and his fiancee, beauty entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton, hit headlines this week with their celebrity dinner date.
The couple, who have been travelling throughout the US with their 1-year-old daughter Noa, had dinner in New York with their good friends, Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
Lupton, who likes to remain tight-lipped about her high-profile friendships, wouldn’t comment about how their couples’ dinner went, but was a little more forthcoming to Society Insider about the business trip.
She and her family have been in the States since early April, travelling back and forth between the West and East coasts.
In Los Angeles, Mowbray and Lupton rented a palatial mansion with panoramic views of the Pacific, while in New York, they stayed at the Fouquet Hotel in Tribeca, where suites range in price up to US$3000 (NZ$5000) per night.
Lupton has been busy with beauty launches and marketing for her brands, Monday Haircare and her new product ranges, Being Haircare, DAISE Beauty and Laura Polko Los Angeles, a collaboration with award-winning hair stylist Laura Polko. The three new brands were launched across the US into Target, Walmart and Ultra Beauty.
Last month, Lupton and Polko launched their collab range at celebrity hotspot Alba Restaurant on Melrose Avenue.
Amongst the industry heavyweights in attendance was celebrity makeup artist Patrick Ta, who is a behemoth in the industry and has a beauty brand under his own name.
While in California, Lupton, 32, and Mowbray, 40, attended Stagecoach in the Coachella Valley.
Back in New York last weekend, the couple went for dinner with Reynolds, 48, and Lively, 37.
The foursome dined in the Meatpacking District at A-List hangout RH Rooftop Restaurant at the Restoration Hardware building, which features a glass roof and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer panoramic views. They also enjoyed the wine terrace, which overlooks One World Trade Centre and the Hudson River.
Sources tell Society Insider the foursome, who were introduced by mutual friends, have been friends for many years, even though Lupton and Lively are now competing in the FMCG beauty market. Last year, Lively launched her brand, Blake Brown, a range of shampoos and masks, which became Target’s largest hair care launch in history.
In December, Lively accepted the “newcomer of the year” award at the 2024 Beauty Inc Awards in New York.
Lupton’s global juggernaut Monday Haircare has won several major beauty awards from the likes of Cosmo, Glamour and InStyle magazines and has been the No 1 most-loved haircare brand on TikTok.
Lupton was said to be fizzing after being a guest speaker last week at the WWD Beauty Summit at the Cipriani Hotel in Lower Manhattan.
Sources say Lupton was thrilled to speak at the summit in front of 400 industry leaders; even Mowbray was proud.
Lupton spoke alongside a selection of big names, including James Dyson, the inventor and founder of Dyson, Sara Blakely, the Inventor & Founder of Spanx and Stéphane de La Faverie, president and CEO of Estee Lauder.
The Hollywood stars and Kiwi billionaire couples may catch up again in New Zealand soon, over a football match.
Wrexham AFC, the Welsh club that has been owned by Reynolds since 2021, plays the Wellington Phoenix at the capital’s Sky Stadium in July.
Entrepreneur Sofia Ambler’s Luxury life
Australian stylist to the stars, Gab Waller, has been jetting around New Zealand for two high-profile sold-out events as part of her work with The Luxury Network NZ.
LA-based Waller, whose celebrity clients include Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Hailey Bieber and Khloe Kardashian, tells Society Insider she’s had a “wonderful” time.
“The guests were wonderful,” she says, of the $195 per person event at Bistro Saine, “and I enjoyed working with Laura McGoldrick again, the event MC”.
Waller regaled her audience with current fashion trends and explained how she puts together her monthly Hot List in US Vogue.
It’s her second time to NZ, and she says this visit has been “even more exciting... with adventures and experiences... I’m thrilled to have returned”.
As with her first visit last May, Waller’s visit has been in conjunction with The Luxury Network New Zealand, the NZ arm of a global luxury marketing group representing more than 500 brand members worldwide.
As well as Waller, at the end of last year, TLN NZ also brought over Australian fashion legend Pip Edwards to a sell-out event at the Park Hyatt, followed by a retreat north of Auckland at Parihoa Farm.
McGoldrick has been the MC for all three of those TLN events and tells Society Insider it was lovely to work with the team again.
“Gab is gorgeous, she is so lovely and such a powerhouse in the fashion space, so to speak, with her has been awesome,” says McGoldrick.
“I know all the shopping fans in the audience loved her insights.”
Yesterday, Waller flew to Hawke’s Bay on a Cessna Citation Ultra private jet to Hawke’s Bay, where she hosted a one-night retreat for 12 people at Black Barn Retreats, with tickets priced up to $3500.
TLN NZ is owned by Sofia Ambler, a Swedish-born, Auckland-based private aviation entrepreneur. Initially looking to join TLN with her helicopter business, Heletranz Helicopters, Ambler ended up owning its New Zealand arm instead.
“I love bringing people together,” Ambler tells Society Insider. “For me it started as a way to work with like-minded brands to Heletranz.”
Ambler and her Kiwi husband, pilot John, moved to New Zealand 12 years ago to buy Heletranz and have taken it from a fleet of two to 14 helicopters.
They started NZ Jet four years ago, catering to the growing demand for private jet services.
Before moving to NZ, Ambler lived in Hong Kong where she worked for leading capital markets and investment group CSLA.
As Ambler grew The Luxury Network business, she brought on Sotheby’s real estate senior international director Scarlett Wood, followed by fellow Swede – and Ambler’s former Lund University alum – global corporate whiz Cecilia Lambie.
Lambie, who has lived in New Zealand for 22 years, started her career in management consulting, working in Sweden, Italy and Switzerland, followed by global telecommunications, working in Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo.
Since then, Lambie has launched another business called My Luxury Channel, which sells affordable everyday luxury items through livestreaming and e-commerce.
Wood previously worked in private banking for high-net-worth clients in China and says she takes pride in connecting like-minded businesses and discerning clients with TLN.
“Every brand within the network is carefully vetted before joining, ensuring we uphold a duty of care to our members and the valued relationships they have built up over time,” says Wood.
“It’s all about networking, connecting people and delivering value.”
The three women, who are also all busy mums, have developed a network of “first in class brands” in luxury jewellery, automotive, fashion, hospitality, lodges and more. TLN’s NZ brands and affiliates include Hartfield Jewellers, Tiffany & Co, Lamborghini, Westfield NZ, Park Hyatt, Eagles Nest, The Spa Nomad and local fashion brands including Maggie Marilynn and Cailtin Crisp.
In the past year alone, Ambler says TLN and its exclusive database of 2000 high net worth private clients, worked with more than 30 brands. Many are members and others are affiliates for specific events and digital campaigns.
Sutcliffe Jewellery of Parnell has been a member of TLN for five years and its owner, Brent Sutcliffe, tells Society Insider that working with the network has led to more than $1 million in sales.
Ambler says TLN helps facilitate new business development activities between top-end companies.
Events and experiences can be a masterclass in precious gemstones or whiskey; other experiences range from lunches, wellness retreats, to luxury car drive days.
After her NZ visit, TLN NZ has organised with TLN’s Australian arm, for Waller to host luncheons and other activations in Sydney at The Ivy Sunroom and at the newly opened and hard-to-get-into Maison Bâtard in Melbourne, before she heads back to the US.
While in Hawke’s Bay, she stayed at the beautiful villa Summerlee and mixed up her wellness and self-care routines with golf at Cape Kidnappers.
Party people of the week
Paritai Drive theatre fundraiser
Acting and broadcasting legend Louise Wallace and her husband Scott, group business director at DDB New Zealand, hosted a fundraiser last Thursday at their stunning Paritai Drive home. Billed as One Unforgettable Evening, the event was to raise money for their professional theatre company, Tadpole Theatre Productions.
The tone was set on arrival, with lychee martinis followed by a selection of French champagne and wines from Constellation Brands.
Cocktails and canapes were followed by a delicious supper provided by Gatting’s Events.
Wallace began the evening by introducing her “Dream Team” of well-heeled and monied fundraisers: Catherine Sandelin, Maria Ryder, Cathy Horton, Krissy Jackson, Angela Clatworthy, Rebecca Wilkinson and Jane Freeman.
Director, actor and theatre luminary Simon Prast then gave a brief but inspiring talk on the value of live theatre as a whole and Tadpole in particular.
Other high-profile actors present were Tadpole’s artistic director Janice Finn, and former Outrageous Fortune star turned auctioneer extraordinaire Shane Cortese, who worked the room with aplomb alongside actor Jodie Dorday, to achieve a much-needed financial boost for Tadpole.
Among the generous donors were Rich Listers The Winger Group owner Wayne Leach and wife Amanda, and arts philanthropist Chanelle Farmer.
Other monied guests included property developer Richard Kroon and his wife Caroline, Spirit of Adventure Trust Chairman Stephen Fisher and his wife, interior designer Virginia; SIL Holding Company Limited Chairman Will Rouse and his wife Michelle; and former communications maven Sarah Paykel.
Also generously showing their support were fashion designer Yvonne Bennetti and Sarah Hutchings, of Orsini Fine Jewellery.
Tadpole celebrates its 21st production opening this week, Three Little Words starring Anna Jullienne and showing at Takapuna’s Pump House Theatre.
A lift for lashes and limbs
RevitaLash Cosmetics put beauty insiders, influencers and media personalities through a day of strength, stretch and eyelash envy at an exclusive event last Wednesday hosted at Reform Pilates in Newmarket.
The event was hosted by RevitaLash Cosmetics New Zealand distributor Kiara Cosmetics’ director and young entrepreneur Annemarie Mason and general manager Ineke Pronk.
They combined the launch of RevitaLash’s Length Define Tubing Mascara, with luxe pilates classes.
After working up a healthy glow, guests then refuelled with an indulgent wellness spread of raw vegan treats, Little Bird Organics bowls and juices from The Cartery.
Among the wellness crew fluttering their eyelashes, were actors Rebekah Randall and Moni Meredith, bridal designer Trish Peng, broadcaster Wilhelmina Shrimpton, Mila Mae & Co founder Jenna Clark. Also seen stretching were influencers Casarah Cooper and Sarah Wallace, fashion stylist Sarah Stuart and beauty stylist Kaitlin Chapman.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
