OUT & ABOUT: Coach Flagship Store Opening, Catching Up With Ginny Blackmore, Naveya & Sloane’s Showroom Celebration, Benefit Cosmetics Blogger Event and much, much more…

It has been a really busy couple of weeks with a tonne of events, launches and showroom days, so to give you a snippet of what’s been happening and what I’ve been up to, I thought I’d share with you my “Out and About” post, to give you an insight into the last week and a half of my life (well, some of the fun stuff anyway)! So grab a coffee, tea or perhaps a cheeky vino, and check out what I’ve been up to…

COACH
Coach has arrived from New York to the heart of Central Auckland.

I headed along to celebrate the opening of the Coach flagship retail store last week (with the lovely Julie Roulsten), which launched with all the splendor you would expect of a brand such as Coach. It’s fabulous to see such an iconic brand that produces fine leather goods and beautiful accessories adored globally, finally open here in NZ. All the handbags I’ve spent hours perusing online were on display in the most glamorous form, befitting of such a beautiful brand such as Coach.  Check out some of the moments captured from the opening night…

BENEFIT COSMETICS BLOGGER EVENT
Last month Benefit Cosmetics opened a new beauty counter in Smith & Caugheys Newmarket, and to celebrate, Benefit invited beauty bloggers along to check out their new digs, receive a complimentary brow service, and view various Christmas makeup looks using some of their new Holiday sets. Guests enjoyed bubbles, nibbles and of course, perused all the beautiful new holiday gift sets, whilst stocking up on some of their favourite iconic best-sellers such as the “they’re Real” mascara and “POREfessional” pro balm, to name just a couple.  I tell you what, nobody packages beauty products like Benefit and their holiday gift sets are all that you would expect and more!  Beautiful sets encased in reusable tins, eyeshadow quads and skin correcting sets housed in vintage-esque books, and their skincare range showcased in genie-like bottles and jars.  Head on in to their beauty counter in Smith & Caugheys, Newmarket and check out their recently launched beauty destination – in the meantime, here are some snaps from the evening…

LILY & LOUIS – Autumn/Winter Media Preview Day
Showcasing their Autumn and Winter collections, Lily & Louis held their seasonal Media Open Day in typical fabulous L & L style – within the elegant and beautiful surroundings of their showroom, with bubbles, cocktails and delicious finger-food a-plenty. Fashion media got a glimpse of the upcoming ranges due to be released when the cooler weather arrives in 2014.  Whilst the showroom houses many of my favourite designers, I have to say Andrea Moore’s Winter ’14 collection was quite the standout; and with the launch of Andrea’s “I AM” range – simply the icing on the cake!  There is a piece in the “I AM” range  (ok there were several, but this one particular piece…) that is so damned amazing, it’s at the top of my ‘winter must-haves’ list.

Some of my favourite pieces & images from the day…

STANDOUT PIECE OF THE DAY… (my god, is this not perfection?!)

GINNY BLACKMORE – NZ parties with the world and (BELVEDERE)^RED to launch World AIDS Day
NZ partied with Ginny Blackmore and Belvedere (RED) on Saturday night, joining other countries around the world for the first time to celebrate World AIDS Day. Ginny played to a full house at Auckland nightspot 1885 and the crowd joined her (I’m pretty sure it was everyone, not just me) as she belted out her double platinum single ‘Bones’.

Belvedere (RED) supports the (RED) Global Fund, launched by U2’s Bono and is the world’s leading financier of programs to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.  December is World AIDS Awareness month and marks a time to celebrate how far the fight to end AIDS has come and raise awareness of the opportunity to deliver the world’s first AIDS-free Generation in over 30 years.

A fabulous night and an even more fabulous cause!!

Ginny and the body-painted Belvedere crew…

BEAT PR – Winter 2014 Media Preview Day
Plenty to see at Beat PR last week when they held their Winter 2014 Media Showroom Day.  Showcasing many of the brands that I regularly feature on Gurlinterrupted, it’s always great to see what’s hitting stores now, and what’s coming up for the next season.  As one would expect from boohoo.com there’s a plethora of amazing pieces online now, and soon to be released.  Plenty of glitz and glam with their dazzling sequin range and the floaty boho and aztec print pieces are beyond amaze (not to mention totally affordable!). My FAVOURITE hair care range even makes an appearance (I swear Evo Calming Shampoo and Calming Conditioner will literally make your hair look and feel like silk!!  Like angel silk! Silky angel tears!! Ok, I have no idea what angel silk or tears feel like, but I’m pretty sure they feel like the result of using these Evo gems!).  Saben, Icebreaker, NOM*D, just to name a few, will have you dreaming of winter (the NOM*D winter range is phenomenal!!) and kikki.K has produced a delightful pastel palette of stationery and a superb leather goods range that will have your schedule and desk sorted in no time (I should probably look into this a bit more, with the amount of events on at the moment I don’t know whether I’m coming or going ha ha). Here are some of my favourite things spotted in the Beat PR showroom (I feel like I should state here – obviously I wasn’t a favourite ‘thing’ that I spotted, but I just love this fun pic)…

NAVEYA & SLOANE – The New Showroom Launch
Last week media were invited to the opening of Naveya & Sloane’s new showroom. Located on the top floor of the uber-cool Imperial complex (44 Queen St) guests arrived to a beautifully lit showroom with all the finest of Naveya & Sloane’s jewellery on display.  Guests mingled, the champagne flowed and the showroom was declared officially open!  Christmas is just around the corner too – so the timing couldn’t be better.  A girl can dream right?! (Just so you know, no – I’m not that girl dreaming of weddings and diamond rings – but I can damn sure appreciate a beautiful piece of  hand-made jewellery from Naveya & Sloane. Plus, diamonds are a girls best friend!)…

PUBLIC LIBRARY MEDIA DAY
Media headed to Grey Lynn to check out the latest winter collections from Public Library’s fabulous range of brands.  Guests mingled with the PL Ladies (Emma, Maggie and Sophie) enjoyed a few cheeky wines and took in all that winter has in store for us in Winter 2014. (Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon right?).

Vanishing Elephant has so many beautiful shoes heading our way (hello rose gold loafers!!) and it was great to see that unrealfur has an abundance of fabulous cruelty-free coats, jackets and vests to keep us all snug when the weather gets cooler.  Standout of the day the “In Vogue We Trust” t-shirt and Vanishing Elephant Rose Gold Loafers, LOVE!  Check out a few of my top picks from the day.

Over and Out for Out and About xx

Ange
Gurlinterrupted
A Girl Interrupted By Fashion, Beauty & Anything Pretty That Catches My Eye