Today’s news that Tamsin Cooper and the Royal New Zealand Ballet have entered into a collaboration for a fashion accessories’ line has been one of those items we’ve known about for a while, but had to respect an embargo. Now revealed, it’s one of those unexpected tie-ups, but one which makes sense. Both organizations get to extend their brands, and try their hands in a new market. And being someone who knows full well how tricky co-branding efforts can be, this one certainly has more up sides and than down ones.

It’s been a wonderful few days chilling out with our ed.-at-large, Summer Rayne Oakes, in Lucire’s home country of New Zealand to promote her book, Style, Naturally.
   Summer Rayne was out this way to attend Greenfest in Brisbane, Queensland, and decided that she should venture to New Zealand to see us and to give Style, Naturally, which launched here earlier this year, a push.

Summer Rayne interviewed by National Radio’s Jim Mora, broadcast live on June 9.

With David Farrier for TV3’s Campbell Live, which aired June 11.

Checking out Trade Aid on Victoria Street, Wellington, with Carolyn Enting; and Summer’s subsequent interview at Mojo Coffee on Bond Street.

   Barbora Hromadova of Southern Publishers Group, which distributes Style, Naturally here, did an incredible job of arranging the Auckland media. While I cannot mention who has interviewed Summer until their pieces run, some of you will already have seen her story in The Dominion Post and Campbell Live, as well as on two radio stations, including Radio New Zealand National.
   I flew up on Sunday, a few hours ahead of Summer, to collect her from Auckland Airport. We’ve been seeing the journalists that Barbora arranged initially, and thanks to Mark Patterson at Volvo, had a very comfortable ride in the form of the XC60 diesel SUV.
   We had plenty of comedies of errors with the keys at the Cintra Lane Apartments, my regular haunt, which are too plentiful to list here.
   I introduced Summer to Bridget Saunders and Miss New Zealand Katie Taylor, both of whom have interests in sustainability, during the evenings, and spent quite a bit on food to boost the Auckland economy.
   Here in Wellington, I was adamant that I would at least show Summer Rayne a bit more of this part of the island than the central city, and got to drive her around our south coast.
   She mastered the use of the Kiwi superlative suffix (the use of as at the ends of adjectives) and the distinctively odd ‘Flag it’ (‘Ignore it’), and I admit I was more liberal with the former than I otherwise would be.
   But the highlight was probably dinner with fashion editor Samantha Hannah and some of our crew on Wednesday night. We invited Laurie Foon of Starfish, whose label was featured in Style, Naturally. Laurie had bought the book many months before without knowing Starfish was in it. She had it for two months before getting to the references’ section; and was further surprised when I called her to ask if she wanted to meet the author.
   Earlier today, Samantha filmed an interview with Summer Rayne for both Snapstar and Lucire TV.

After her final Style, Naturally interview on this leg, Summer Rayne relaxes with the Lucire crew in Wellington and at Te Papa Tongarewa.

Summer Rayne Oakes at the Bush City trail at Te Papa Tongarewa—before the joke that the water could be from the toilets.

   Afterwards, we hung out at Te Papa before I drove Summer to Wellington Airport as she left our shores, only to be dicked around by Air New Zealand over an error in her ticketing, which spoiled an otherwise enjoyable tour.
   The error seemed to emanate from the Brisbane end, when the booking was originally done, and some of the Air New Zealand staff here tried their best to remedy the situation.
   These five days in Auckland and Wellington were thoroughly enjoyable. We’re looking forward to seeing more of the press that Summer Rayne deservedly received during her time here; and needless to say, we recommend Style, Naturally wholeheartedly as the definitive guide to sustainable fashion and beauty.

I know Lucire is not a car maga­zine, but I thought I should clarify my state­ments about the A-pillar area on the Peu­geot 308 SW being messy. At left is a photo­graph I took on my old cell illus­trating what I meant. Some people might like all these lines that go nowhere and every­where—I don’t.
   While we also have an Audi A4 review online, more importantly, Bron Williams’ interview with tattooed hairstylist extraordinaire Richard Kavanagh is now on-site, and Bulgari had a bash for its 125th birthday.
   Elyse Glickman, meanwhile, talks to Deborah Anderson, on her new photographic book, Paperthin.
   Meanwhile, I should publicly acknowledge that Parmesh Shahani (below right), editorial director of Verve, whom I caught up with yesterday, thought that Stanley Moss hit the nail on the head with his choice of northern Indian luxury resorts. He says that most non-Indians wouldn’t have known of these, and that Stanley did his research in finding the truly best.
   Verve has an amazing issue coming up in a few months. I am sworn to secrecy, but Indians will love it when that issue hits the stands.

Above: Doutzen Krœs remains in fifth place in 2009, with US$6 million earned between June 2008 and June 2009, says Forbes.

Forbes this week released its list of the world’s top earning models, estimating their income earned between June 2008 and June 2009.
   The magazine notes that the recession has hit earnings. While Gisèle Bündchen remains in the top spot with US$25 million earned, it’s US$10 million down from her 2008 figure. While Victoria’s Secret is no longer part of Bündchen’s deals, she still has Versace, True Religion, Dior and Ebel. She added Rampage to her brands.
   Heidi Klum retains her number-two spot, this year at US$16 million, thanks to her endorsement deals with Diet Coke, Volkswagen, McDonald’s and LG, and programmes such as Project Runway and Germany’s Next Top Model. Klum improved on her 2008 figure by US$2 million.
   Kate Moss remained at third with US$8·5 million, with Versace, Longchamp and Topshop among the brands using her face.
   Adriana Lima stayed at fourth, half a million dollars behind at US$8 million. Victoria’s Secret is her most popular endorsement deal.
   Both Moss and Lima increased their earnings by around US$1 million since 2008.
   Doutzen Krœs remained in fifth with the same figure as 2008, at US$6 million. Forbes notes that while her de Beers contract ended, she replaced it with one for Seven for All Mankind.
   She was joined in fifth by Alessandra Ambrosio, buoyed by a Victoria’s Secret contract. Ambrosio was not in the top 10 last year.
   Natalia Vodianova remained seventh (US$5·5 million) and Daria Werbowy came up one place to eighth (US$4·5 million). Australian Miranda Kerr also went up one place, to ninth equal (US$3 million). Carolyn Murphy fell one spot to equal with Kerr.
   New Victoria’s Secret face Emanuela de Paula is new to the list, with US$2·5 million.
   Forbes did not list to the 16th place this year.

While the political media were either praising or criticizing US President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, IMG Publishing has published a collectible called Michelle Obama: 100 Days of Style. The new 116 pp. volume details every outfit worn by the First Lady from the Inaugural Ball to her high-profile trip to Europe. The edition is available at newsstands, major bookstores in the US and online at fashionweekdaily.com.

Ginger & Smart were all about kites and it was beautiful. As the statement kite-bearing model chasséd down the runway, a frenzy of clicking from the photographers’ pit could be heard.
   Silk featured prominently, and the bold and bright colours stood out against a background of black. Silhouettes flowed like the silk they were vastly made of, but nicely juxtaposed with heavy hardware and skin-tight leggings.
   My favourite piece by far was the body jewellery. Give thanks to Alexander Wang who sent this down the runway last year—what a genius.—Bronwyn Williams

Photography courtesy Getty Images

We finally have images of Katie Taylor, Miss Universe New Zealand 2009, from the night itself, rather than photographs taken casually during the days I was there. We’ve distributed some from this series to media today.

Photo credit: Paul Whiteford/Southern First National via JY&A Media

We’ve been patiently waiting for news of Ashes to Ashes’ second series for quite some time. This time last year, we had already talked about the series, the ’80s and the decade’s influence on fashion.
   Last week was the first time we had heard much about the next Ashes to Ashes, aside from a tabloid article in the Mirror saying how Philip Glenister, playing DCI Gene Hunt, would quit at the end of the second series. When I asked the Manchester Evening News’s Ian Wylie, a man better schooled in matters relating to the Gene Hunt world than most journalists, the response was (and I am not quoting him here) that it was cobblers.
   Or, more accurately, that it was a non-story that did not correspond to his conversations with Mr Glenister. Wylie repeats it in a blog post for the News here.
   I can sympathize. We’ve waited so long for any news that the best the British media could come up with for a while was an article that contradicted itself anyway. Finally, there was an event last week where stars Glenister, Keeley Hawes, Dean Andrews and Monserrat Lombard launched the new series, and on Thursday, the embargo was lifted for the official news from the BBC.
   We knew some of the details anyway: the retro, time-travelling cop show is now set in 1982, not 1981, in the era of the Falklands War. The show is ‘darker’, with an ongoing theme about police corruption and mistrust.
   And some ideas that might seem a little familiar to followers of the American remake of Life on Mars appear: Alex Drake (Hawes) runs into someone who also seems to be trapped in 1982, and she, like Sam Tyler before her in the original Life on Mars (2006–7), hears voices from the future.
   But for readers of this publication, the important thing is that Piers Wenger, Head of Drama for BBC Wales, promises ‘outrageous fashions’ for the New Year.
   While gloomier economic news usually brings with it retro styles, we wonder if that will be the case this time round.
   The 1980s have been an ongoing theme in fashion since the beginning of the century, so much so that the decade has finally become as passé as it was in 1990.
   In other words, while the first series of Ashes to Ashes didn’t really surprise fashion-watchers, the second just might—because they’ll be less connected to what designers have been churning out on the catwalks. We’ve seen a few shoulder pads but it’s going to be a couple of seasons of big skirts, in our view—not quite what we’d associate with the ’80s. Leg warmers—once not too out of place as they came back mid-decade—have been banished as we close the 2000s. But we bet they’ll feature in Ashes to Ashes.
   The Mirror reports that Hawes claims, ‘In one episode I get to wear a shirt with a giant pussy bow covered in anchors, tight jeans with red stripes down the side and anchor earrings.’
   It just doesn’t sound like where we are today. But the mystery will, according to Wylie, have us glued, and there’s plenty of mistrust in the authorities in our present day which will see us finding some affinity with Alex Drake and her crew.

This morning at our New Zealand bureau, we received a news advisory about the launch of the Tata Nano in Mumbai today.
   We expect to have coverage of the launch by this time tomorrow.
   The Nano, which we covered excitedly in Lucire in January 2008, represents a positive step for the Indian motor industry.
   Priced at Rs. 1 lakh, the Nano was conceived as a vehicle to safely transport Indian families, who may otherwise have opted for a motorcycle.
   The way India has grown in the last few years, there is a huge automotive culture—and the Nano will contribute to that. The car meets emissions’ and safety requirements, according to Tata. And if it means lives will be saved because families have the protection of a car shell rather than the exposed nature of a motorcycle, then we support it.
   But more importantly, we see potential for the Nano to go well beyond India. While export models to some countries would need more mod cons than the basic model—and Tata, from the beginning, stated its intentions to produce a deluxe model—it is a no-nonsense automobile that is being launched at a time when western models are getting heavier and, often, unnecessarily ostentatious.
   It reminds us of the times when Volkswagen entered a North American market sick of excess—a situation that repeated when the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic hit the same country in a land of oversized Buicks and Mercurys. It also reminds us of the mass mobilization that happened in Italy when the Fiat nuova 500—another “people’s car”—was launched in 1957 and the BMC Mini, which really took off in the 1960s. The latter was a classless car.
   With Germany having had a horsepower war in recent years, and a growing green movement on the other end, the Tata Nano could be more a sign of one’s support of common-sense value.
   While targeted at families who cannot afford a Maruti 800—considered till now one of India’s most affordable cars—Nano has a classless style to it that we believe could make a real statement in the west.
   While it is still powered by the internal combustion engine, it could get 62 mpg (Imperial) from a 33 hp engine. That’s better than any Toyota Prius could do, by some 10 mpg.
   With global fascination after the success of Slumdog Millionaire, this could well be India’s year. And Tata Nano could be the second phase of India’s 2009 rise, something which we observed as a trend that started over a decade ago. Incredible India indeed.

Above: The 2000 Honda Insight for the US market.

[Cross-posted] I get a bit bored of the media—this includes The New York Times today quoting ‘analysts’—saying that the Honda Insight (which got way better mileage than the Toyota Prius, and which was on sale in the US before the Prius) did not succeed because it didn’t signal to others that the car was a hybrid. And that’s why the new Insight looks like a Prius.
   Bollocks. If I remember correctly, the Insight looked far more distinctive than any car on the market at the time, including the Prius. (The Honda Civic IMA Hybrid—my preference among the Japanese models—meanwhile, did look like a regular Honda Civic.)
   People have short memories. The first Prius—the one that was on sale when the Insight was—looked like a dull econobox that seemed inspired more by the 1975 Toyota Corolla 30 than anything else. It was only the second-generation model, from 2004, that had the more familiar shape.
   Still, the environmentally conscious flocked more to the Prius than the Insight, despite its granny looks. Actually, I know a few grans who would probably disapprove of the styling.
   The Insight was an efficient small car that looked like something in the 2000s should, with its rear wheels partly covered and getting over 80 mpg (Imperial). That makes any Prius look like a gas guzzler.
   And Honda had enough faith in its 1999 Insight to launch it in the US for the 2000 model year. It didn’t wait for years as Toyota did.
   The Insight didn’t do well because it cramped down the back, and Americans used to their SUVs and overhead-valve V8s couldn’t fathom the idea of an engine having less than a litre in cubic capacity. Consequently, Honda built around 18,000—a tiny number compared to the Prius.
   But it was far more advanced than anything Honda had ever built. Or, for that matter, anything Toyota offered. Insight had aluminium and plastic bits, a wonderful lean-burn engine, and a drag coefficient of 0,25.
   This time, Honda has built a new Insight with a Prius-like shape, using stuff from its parts’ bin, and made it a bit larger. It should do well, but we shouldn’t buy the mainstream media’s assertions that it looks the way it does because its predecessor wasn’t distinctive.The new Honda Insight is unoriginal where the first was fresh, and stylistically, it plays to expectations rather than exceeds them.
   Karmically, I wish Honda well, but the new car hardly lives up to its tagline of ‘The Power of Dreams’ when it aims to conform. I can’t help but notice the irony, especially those who will buy the Insight because they think it makes an original statement about their green credentials.

Above: This time around, Honda is all about conforming with its new Insight rather than pioneering.