The latest, elevated take on the boho bag gives the free-spirited staple a sophisticated upgrade. From classic Chloé to slouchy suede from The Row, these are the season’s must-haves — any of which would make the perfect request from Santa.
Reform has redefined reformer Pilates with a method rooted in innovative programming, functional movement, and genuine inclusivity. With multiple studios up and down the country and a loyal following, the Reform approach is simple: train for real life.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” say Reform’s Auckland franchise owners, “but we are serious about how we move.” Every class is defined by intent, variety, and challenge. “At Reform, our classes are designed to promote better movement, not just in the studio, but in real life.” Whether it’s a stronger golf swing, gardening without pain, lifting kids with confidence, or simply moving through daily life with more ease, “We train for what matters most outside of class.”
Clients return for the depth of benefit they feel, even if they can’t always name it. “Our movement protocols work in layers, creating impact far beyond the obvious.” Every class leaves you a more efficient mover, and over time that compounds into an addictive reward system. The sessions are challenging, so you leave knowing there’s more to strive for. The most common feedback? People simply feel better. “We share incredible client stories — and while we’re not front-line responders, we know we advocate for both longer life expectancy and better life fulfilment.”
Each class follows a proven protocol: warm-up, ramp-up, and grounding finish. “Across this, we train the full spectrum of movement — postural control, balance, deceleration, pushing, pulling, reaching, bending, and responding to load — leaving the body energised, not exhausted,” they say.
Rooted in reformer Pilates, Reform blends the latest science with conventional strength protocols. No gimmicks, no trends, just intelligent programming, functional strength, and a deep respect for how real bodies move through real life. “The challenge is always optional — a tool, not a test — and we celebrate those who move best for their ability, not just the best in the room.”
In the world of interiors, contrast is everything, and this season, the high-impact pairing of soft baby blue with striking red is reasserting itself as the colour story to watch.
Once associated with traditional Americana, the blue-and-red combination is now enjoying a thoroughly modern makeover — one that plays with tone, proportion, and texture to evoke elegance, energy, and effortless sophistication. In this new palette, cool, powdery blues dominate the space, setting a serene, expansive base. Think Resene’s Time Out or Breathless — soft yet grounded hues that offer calm and neutrality with just a hint of nostalgic charm. Against this, accents in pops of red appear like punctuation marks, delivering welcome moments of visual tension.
From crimson to coral, even the smallest touch of Resene’s Smashing, Tall Poppy, or Red Hot can shift the mood. It’s all about balance — let the blue breathe across walls and key upholstery, and use red with intention to bring dynamism and depth. Brass detailing and cream or ivory-toned neutrals add warmth and elegance, preventing the scheme from veering too severe.
Together, this duo proves that opposites not only attract, but harmonise. Whether you’re drawn to coastal calm or postmodern cool, Resene’s carefully curated palette makes it easy to tailor this colour story to your style.
Moments that change everything deserve a gift worth equal weight, and Walker & Hall’s sentiment-rich pieces mark those life-altering beginnings with meaning.
Few milestones hold the magic and magnitude of becoming a mother. It’s a chapter that redefines life — from the exhilarating early days to the triumphs and tender moments of the first year, through to every Mother’s Day and beyond. Walker & Hall knows this implicitly (126 years of helping people mark life’s greatest moments will do that), curating timeless, sentiment-rich pieces that honour the extraordinary role of mum and live on as family treasures.
Think keepsakes she’ll wear daily — refined diamond studs, a timeless tennis bracelet, or a stunning statement ring, each imbued with memory and meaning. These are the kind of treasures that become part of her journey, quietly gathering significance with every milestone that follows. Whether it’s a sparkling push present, a jewel to mark the first year, or a gift that signifies a more personal milestone, each piece is a celebration in itself.
The beauty of these thoughtful and enduring gifts lie not just in their beauty, but in their power to preserve a moment — distilling the joy, pride, and unbridled love of motherhood into something she can carry always — a lasting reminder of life’s most enduring bond.
The second stop on the fashion month agenda was London, with Laura Weir, recently appointed CEO of the British Fashion Council, giving the event a welcome renewal. Burberry stole the show, taking over Perks Field in Kensington Palace with a show for the ages, drawing on Britain’s unrivalled festival scene, while our very own Emilia Wickstead delivered a masterclass in daring romanticism. Below, we round up some of the best looks from London Fashion Week.
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Garage Project and Satya Chai Lounge are back at it, reviving one of Auckland’s favourite pop-ups for a limited run. Open now, the Karangahape Road lounge has been transformed into Hyderabad Hotel — a vibrant nod to the spirit of India’s southern food capital, where spice, music, and conviviality reign supreme.
Expect all the cosy energy of Satya’s beloved K’ Road haunt, now paired with a full Garage Project bar pouring cult favourites and fresh additions like Zinger, a brewed alcoholic ginger beer designed to zing up the season. On the menu, street eats shine: smashed dahi puri, onion bhaji, papdi chaat, and curry fries, alongside more substantial offerings of Hyderabad fried chicken, biriyani, curries, and rotating street snacks.
True to Satya’s style, the flavours are unapologetically bold and perfect for sharing over craft brews or a chilled natural wine. With its mix of atmosphere, spice, and playfulness, Hyderabad Hotel once again promises to be a short-lived but much-loved fixture on K’ Road — best experienced before it disappears.
Hyderabad Hotel’s doors are officially open for an undisclosed period of time, so we suggest you make your way to the pop-up fairly quickly, before it’s too late.
Opening hours:
Wednesday — Monday from 5.30pm
Closed Tuesday
Hyderabad Hotel
Satya Chai Lounge
271 Karangahape Road
Auckland
Cartier’s iconic Santos de Cartier has been given a refined update. The new ‘petit’ model balances heritage and modernity in steel, gold, or two-tone — proof that timeless design knows no scale.
A little smaller, no less striking. Cartier’s latest release sees the beloved Santos de Cartier scaled down — a nod to the watch’s early dimensions and a reminder that elegance often lies in proportion.
At 27mm wide and 34.5mm high, the new downscaled model brings a finely tuned sense of balance to the collection, while retaining the bold design language that has defined the Santos since 1904: square case, visible screws, and sharp Roman numerals.
Created for aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Santos was the first modern wristwatch, designed for ease in the cockpit. Today, it’s more about precision of style. This petite evolution adds a sunray-effect dial and a high-autonomy quartz movement specifically adapted to its scaled-down case. It’s available in all-steel, two-tone yellow gold and steel, or solid yellow gold, with the same QuickSwitch system that makes straps refreshingly interchangeable — calfskin for the mixed-metal models, and alligator for the gold.
Proof that less can indeed be more, this refined Santos keeps the spirit of flight intact, while feeling perfectly grounded in the now. A classic, recut — still square, still striking, just more subtle in its statement.
partridgejewellers.com/cartier
Presented by Flexform, Antonio Citterio’s Loungescape is a versatile seating system that adapts fluidly to its environment. With sculptural forms inspired by the contours of a landscape, the modular design becomes the living space’s nucleus, offering ever-new perspectives on comfort and contemporary elegance.
Whether cosied up by the fire or sprawled in the sun, there is always occasion for a good book, no matter where the season may take you. Here, we deliver a line-up of recently released, unmissable reads that run the gamut from moving memoirs to gripping novels to escapist reads.
Gravity Let Me Go
by Trent Dalton
It feels fitting that Trent Dalton’s latest novel bears the word gravity in its title, given the weight his stories always hold. Set in suburban Brisbane, this work — which Dalton describes as “his most personal book yet” — follows journalist Noah Cork in the wake of the greatest scoop of his career: an exposé on a cold-blooded killer. But what Noah uncovers reaches far beyond the crime itself. The novel evolves into a meditation on love and marriage, the transformative power of storytelling, and the search for life’s true meaning — all delivered in Dalton’s trademark prose that is at once gripping, heartbreaking, hilarious, and profoundly life-affirming.
People Like Us
by Jason Mott
From the National Book Award–winning author of Hell of a Book comes a stirring meditation on identity, grief, and the stories we inherit. Two Black writers’ intersecting journeys blend reality with surreal, dreamlike turns, revealing humour, loss, and the true power and impact of love.
Moderation
by Elaine Castillo
In a future shaped by virtual reality and corporate power, content moderator Girlie Delmundo is climbing the ranks — until an unexpected connection forces her to reckon with reality. Witty, inventive, and razor-sharp, this is a love story tangled in algorithms, ambition, and the hazy landscape of human interaction.
I Am You
by Victoria Redel
Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, this sensual, atmospheric novel traces the tangled bond between two women — artist and muse, master and servant, lover and rival. Blurring the lines between obsession and devotion, I Am You is a richly painted story of art, identity, and power.
L.A. Women
by Ella Berman
Set against the glittering backdrop of 1960s L.A., this electrifying novel charts the complex friendship between two ambitious writers — until one vanishes, and the other sees an opportunity to rewrite her life as fiction. A fierce exploration of art, envy, and the price of betrayal.
Life, and Death, and Giants
by Ron Rindo
In a quiet Wisconsin town, a boy of impossible size and unexpected grace grows up hidden from the world — until fate intervenes. What follows is a luminous story of buried secrets, hard-won faith, and the extraordinary ways one life can transform many.
When the Cranes Fly South
by Lisa Ridzén
Translated from Swedish by Alice Menzies, this tender bestseller follows Bo, an ageing man facing the loss of his beloved dog — and his independence. A stirring, soul-deep journey of love, regret, and the fierce fight to hold on.
The Unbroken Coast
by Nalini Jones
Spanning the turbulent years when Bombay became Mumbai, this luminous debut follows the unlikely friendship between a retired historian and a fisherman’s daughter. Evocative and emotionally resonant, it’s a story of shifting coastlines and the search for home in a changing world.
Happiness and Love
by Zoe Dubno
At one excruciating dinner party, a woman is forced back into the orbit of her estranged best friends — an artist and a curator who epitomise everything she loathes. This sharp, merciless debut skewers materialism, self-obsession, and the sometimes shallow ambitions of the cultural elite.
The Irish Goodbye
by Heather Aimee O’Neill
One Thanksgiving weekend, three sisters reunite — each hiding a secret. When Cait invites a figure from their past to dinner, long-buried tensions erupt, forcing the Ryan girls to confront the events that shattered their family decades earlier and find a path to forgiveness.
Heart Lamp
written by Banu Mushtaq & translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi
Winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize, Heart Lamp illuminates the everyday lives of women and girls in southern India through 12 sharply observed, richly textured stories. With wit, compassion, and quiet fury, Banu Mushtaq crafts a vivid, unforgettable portrait of resilience and resistance.
Perfection
written by Vincenzo Latronico & translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes
Anna and Tom have everything a modern millennial couple could want — creative jobs, a cool Berlin apartment, and a lively social life. But behind the façade of conscious living and Instagrammable moments, disillusionment festers. Perfection is a sharp, stylish portrait of a generation lost in its own reflection.
Eurotrash
written by Christian Kracht & translated from German by Daniel Bowles
In this semi-autobiographical novel, a writer and his eccentric mother (fresh from a psychiatric clinic) set off on a chaotic road trip across Switzerland to rid themselves of her tainted fortune. Darkly funny and unflinchingly personal, Eurotrash is a razor-sharp reckoning with family, guilt, and legacy.
On the Calculation of Volume I
written by Solvej Balle & translated from Danish by Barbara J. Havel
The mesmerising first instalment in Solvej Balle’s acclaimed septology sees Tara Selter stuck in a time loop. As the world resets around her every single day, she alone carries memory forward, unti 365 days into the loop, she decides to look for an escape.
Dead and Alive
by Zadie Smith
In this incisive new essay collection, Zadie Smith turns her sharp, humane gaze to art, politics, film, grief, and place. From North-West London to New York, Dead and Alive is a brilliant meditation on culture, connection, and the texture of modern life from one of the most critical literary voices of our time.
Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body
by Andrew D. Huberman
Renowned Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman delivers a clear, science-backed guide to mastering your brain and body. Protocols offers practical, customisable strategies to boost mental clarity, mood, energy, and physical performance — transforming everyday challenges into opportunities for lasting change.
Mother Mary Comes to Me
by Arundhati Roy
In her first memoir, Booker Prize–winner Arundhati Roy reflects on a life shaped by the formidable presence of her mother, Mary Roy — a trailblazing educator and uncompromising force. Tender, sharp, and unsparingly honest, it’s a story of love, rupture, and the making of a writer.
The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us
by John J. Lennon
Written from inside prison walls, this groundbreaking work blends personal memoir with immersive journalism as Lennon shares the stories of four men who have killed — revealing their complex lives, search for redemption, and the human truths often lost in our true crime obsession.
Baldwin: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs
A revelatory portrait of James Baldwin through the relationships that shaped him. Blending archival research with lyrical insight, Boggs traces the emotional and creative bonds that fed Baldwin’s art — offering a deeply human perspective on one of the 20th century’s most vital voices.
Make It Ours
by Robin Givhan
Part biography, part cultural reckoning, Make It Ours traces Virgil Abloh’s extraordinary ascent — from outsider to Louis Vuitton menswear’s first Black artistic director. With sharp insight and rare access, Givhan explores how Abloh reframed luxury.
Founded by Sarah Lindsay, Sala offers a deeply personal approach to Pilates, where rhythm, mood, and movement intertwine to create an experience that transcends the physical.
“From the beginning, I didn’t want Sala to feel like a gym,” explains Lindsay. “I wanted it to feel like a sanctuary. A space you enter to come home to yourself, not perform for anyone else.” With its warm hues, natural light, and tactile interiors, the studio feels more like a community hub than a fitness space. And that’s the point.
At Sala, Pilates is just one part of a rich, rhythm-driven offering underpinned by a movement philosophy that blends discipline with softness, form with feeling. “We approach movement as something sacred,” says Lindsay. “It’s not about fixing your body — it’s about returning to it.”
Language plays a significant role in the experience, “We refer to our clients as students and our instructors as teachers. It creates a dynamic of curiosity and learning, not instruction and correction.” Lindsay notes a clear transformation in students who commit to regular practice. “It’s not just about physical change, though that happens too; it’s about presence. You start to see people soften, then strengthen. They stop asking, ‘Am I doing it right?’ and start saying, ‘This feels right for me.’ That’s the shift.”
Lindsay advises anyone starting or restarting their movement journey to let go of perfection. “You don’t need to overhaul your life. Just start with one class. Let it be about how it feels, not how it looks.” Her favourite practice right now? “Chroma followed by mobility. One builds heat and joy, the other brings space and calm. Together, they’re the arc of aliveness.”
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