Being invited to attend New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria recently was a very luxurious little pick-me-up. Working on this magazine by day then seeing runway shows at night filled my creative cup to the brim. Although I added several garments to my wishlist for the warmer days ahead, getting excited about shopping the looks came second to being uplifted by the spirit of connection and celebration in the fashion community, and the reminder that great design takes many shapes and forms.
The fine forms in this issue include our cover project, for which Sam Lennon of The Lennon Project took his local sensibilities to Bali. Having challenged himself not to use a single panel of gib in the holiday home he was hired to design, he landed on a natural material palette that’s a feast of textural finishes.
Back home, Michael Sullivan and the team at Bull O’Sullivan Architecture have also created a spectacular composition guided by nature, giving the rural vernacular a curvy new look. In our story, he shares how this dwelling draws from the “lyricism of the land” for an outcome as poetic as his description — a farmhouse like you’ve never seen before.
Also down to earth in their own way, the ceramic forms artist Leanne Culy crafts from clay convey an environmental message; find out how her latest body of work expresses her passion for the planet. The green-thumbed chat continues with landscape designers Xanthe White and James Sullivan’s take on devising a garden you can let run free, and in our Q&A in which Julia Atkinson-Dunn dishes the dirt on how even the most novice gardeners can get growing.
Our wardrobes, our homes and our gardens can all be vessels for creativity. I relish a special occasion like Fashion Week, but take equal pleasure in the everyday delight of surrounding myself with exceptional design. Enjoy embracing the things that boost your creativity and bring you joy at home.
Editor Alice Lines
