Lucire salutes Wellington designers

ELLINGTON deserved a party, too. It was where Lucire started in 1997. The second party had to be very different, because it wasn’t technically a launch, yet for some Wellingtonians it was an introduction to the fact that Lucire had gone from web to print.
   Laura Ming-Wong of sweetCHILLI, who organized the Wellington function and who serves as the magazine’s creative director, had put months of planning into the function. It was imperative that the party was very Wellington in character and in September, she and I hit upon a theme: ’Lucire salutes Wellington designers’.
   The Good Luck Bar is underground, on Cuba Street, and that suited Lucire perfectly. For years, Lucire sat under the radar in our home town; it was only in 2000 that we received our first hit of local publicity. It’s known that customers of the Bar include Adrien Brody and Jack Black, avoiding public attention. The sponsors of the goody bags were very different, too: while Deutz and Dr Hauschka were shared in both cities, Nature Unplugged, Red Bull, Heineken, Epic, Bod, Caudalie, Buoy, Trilogy, Natcoll and Hema gave things a unique character.
   I still can’t put my finger on it, but it was a very “Wellington” launch. Nicola prefers it due to its personality and intimacy; on those counts I agree, though equally I had plenty of good friends at the Auckland do. There was something magical about having most of the Wellington fashion design community present, apart from those who had young kids to tend to. I was delighted to meet Deborah Sweeney, who in the last few years had quietly sold her designs into New York, yet few locals knew. Mandatory—who had dressed me for both launches—was a wonderful label to have present, thanks to their positive can-do attitudes. Designers Angeline Harrington and Zana Feuchs were also present.
   Margaret Hema and her daughter Donielle attended, which was an honour—Margaret is so spiritually pure that she brings light to any event, even if we were underground. Celebrities included the glamorous Kelly Swanson-Roe, who had arrived early, while I had arrived late due to traffic. It was great to see Jesse Mulligan of radio station More FM, whom I had not run in to for about a year. In fact, thanks to Radio Active’s presence, the radio stations were well served. Our interns of 2004 all came: Greer Hughes, Robyn Merritt and Fiona Barnett. The big surprise was guest Barry Paima, who brought his camera: a perfect move considering batteries were running low on Doug Rimington’s.
   I stayed much later at the Wellington event, largely because the abundance of Epic food ensured I didn’t have the one-yoghurt-for-the-day scenario of Auckland.
   Wellington wasn’t about getting headlines, though we were honoured to receive one at Thread, thanks to Sally Christie. We also noticed she kindly blogged the event elsewhere. Sally’s article says it all: it was our chance to thank people at a very personal level. But the character of the evening should be credited solely to Laura, and to her partner Adrian Owen. Laura and I had contemplated not going ahead with ’Lucire salutes Wellington designers’ after the fatigue of the Auckland one; but it was her persistence and groundwork that ensured that it did. Like a movie, however, we are now wondering about the sequel. •

Jack Yan is founding publisher of Lucire.

It was imperative that the party was very Wellington in character and in September, she and I hit upon a theme: ’Lucire salutes Wellington designers’