Best of Auckland 2018
SHOPPING & SERVICES
The best… Basics that don’t make you feel basic
H&M
While we certainly don’t discourage forking out a few hundy on a beautifully made New Zealand designer piece, when it’s basics you’re after, thank god for H&M. The Swedish fast-fashion giant opened its first New Zealand store at Sylvia Park in 2016, and then in August, H&M Commercial Bay arrived — perfect for the mall-averse and for lunchtime retail therapy. The multilevel store is well laid out, meaning you don’t have to trawl through too many body-con mini dresses to get to that $15 white tee you’re after. It also has a homewares section filled with covetable, affordable goods. If you can get out the door without an $8 fish-shaped bottle opener or one of the stylish sub-$30 glass carafes, you’re stronger than we are. H&M Commercial Bay, 21 Queen St, central city. hm.com
Bookshop for the #metoo era
The Women’s Bookshop
Riding the waves of feminism for nearly three decades, the Women’s Bookshop is as relevant right now as it was when it opened on Dominion Rd back in 1989. As much a community as a shop, customers helped with a move to Ponsonby 10 years later, where the bookshop — and founding owner Carole Beu — remains. The original focus on books by, for and about women has broadened over the years to welcome men, both on the shelves and in the store, but the emphasis on subjects of particular interest to women continues. Our pick of the new releases? Soraya Chemaly’s Rage Becomes Her — a pitch-perfect examination of the temper of the times.
105 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby. womensbookshop.co.nz
Breakout label for summer
Hej-Hej
After the well-received debut of their first collection at Fashion Week in August, followed by a brief concession to bricks and mortar with a pop-up on Ponsonby Rd, Alice Isles and Kiki Judd of new womenswear label Hej-Hej — say “hey hey” — got down to (online-only) business. With Isles based in Auckland and Judd dealing with their suppliers on the ground in Shanghai, Hej-Hej’s affordable linen pieces are selling well via Insta and their website. We like the (slightly wrinkled) style of this thoroughly modern breakout brand. hej-hej.co
Bulk bins, because they’re cool now
GoodFor
This “wholefoods refillery” makes being a better person easy. It’s bulk-bin buying, yes, but that just doesn’t convey the zen-like allure of GoodFor’s four outlets. The sparkling-clean, white-on-white surrounds and smiling staff make you feel like you’ve entered some sort of health retreat, even if you’re just popping in to fill a Tupperware container with muesli. There’s no plastic packaging here — you can BYO, buy one of their glass jars or, if you must, take a paper bag. Alongside the impressive array of bins full of various flours, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and the like, you’ll find liquids on tap — the Ecostore range of cleaning products, plus a variety of high-quality oils, syrups and vinegars. The cosy Mt Eden Village store is the latest to join the family, and rumour has it nationwide expansion is on the horizon. 2 Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn; 79 St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell; 360 Lake Rd, Takapuna; 445 Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden. goodfor.co.nz
Curated vintage wares
Babelogue
Also the name of a raucous prose-poem by Patti Smith, Babelogue is a poetic selection of textiles, decor and furniture, mainly from the middle of last century to the 1980s. Owner Charlotte Rust, previously of vintageLoose, had traded in retail for the art and costume departments of TV and film, but was seduced into it once more after visiting Morocco and Paris, two places that are honey to the collector’s bee. Rust has an eye for special pieces by local and international artisans, especially scarlet Turkish kilim rugs, glass, chrome, on-fleek cane furniture and lots of really pretty lamps.
