Новозеландские креаторы завоевывают Лондон: от оперной сцены до дизайна интерьера

Making a name for themselves in fashion, food, design, and culture, these are the creative New Zealanders to know in London. Isabella Moore Opera singer, model, festival founder and creative consultant When some people want to learn more about their culture abroad, they may join a language “Everyone is really wanting to help, to tautoko us,” says Moore. “We need to raise each other up, and show our Pasifika excellence.” As an acclaimed opera singer (who trained in Wales and the United States, and has performed at high-profile events, including for the Royal Family), Moore made an appearance at the festival’s Classical Coconuts concert alongside her husband and other leading opera singers. Before this, Moore and Wilson modelled at the Matakite fashion show (where Moore was also a creative consultant), and sang a moving rendition of Lota nu’u. As a working model and the subject of RNZ’s Cutting the Curve documentary, Moore is also calling for more diversity in the modelling industry. After a brief trip back home, where Moore walked the runway in New Zealand Fashion Week Kahuria’s opening night, she is next headed to New York City to work. As she continues to find her voice, Moore is looking to grow the Pasifika Festival and its complementary Mana Arts Co events, as well as her consulting work. “All of this is happening for a reason,” she says. “I feel really proud and honoured.” Advertisement Advertise with NZME. Chantelle Nicholson Chef, restaurateur, author and advocate While there are many small-plate restaurants in Mayfair, none are as committed to having a small environmental impact as Chantelle Nicholson’s Apricity. This Northern hemisphere summer, its tasting menus and à la carte menu reflect a rainbow of flavours - from golden-yellow courgette flower (as tempura with smoked marrowfat) to aubergine (with kimchi, fresh herb salad and makrut lime) – all made with hyper-local produce from sustainable suppliers. “Simple whole food grown with care and healthy soil is always going to taste better,” says the chef, who grew up in Hamilton, and spent holidays at her relatives’ stonefruit orchard down south. As one of the leading female voices in the UK’s hospitality industry, Nicholson is constantly questioning the way we plate. Apricity, which opened in 2022, continues to innovate and retains a Green Michelin Star and the highest Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Standard rating. After 20 years in London’s food scene, Nicholson is focused on the environment and her communities. She’s an independent board member for ReLondon and a member of City Harvest’s Food Council. Passionate about inspiring the younger generation, she hosts a Kids in the Kitchen event at her restaurant, as well as being part of Chefs in Schools and School Food Matters. Nicholson sees a restaurant as a whole ecosystem and also hosts Consciously Crafted events, where guests have learnt the art of pottery and floral arranging at her chef’s table. “We have these beautiful elements of nature in London as well as everywhere in the UK and the world,” says Nicholson. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. “My wish is to protect it as much as possible so that it is left in a great way and everyone can actually enjoy it.” Jessica McCormack Jeweller and collector Jessica McCormack believes diamonds shouldn’t be locked away, they should shine in the light of every day. This was on full display at her British pub-themed summer party, co-hosted by Zoë Kravitz – Jessica McCormack’s first ambassador, collaborator and muse. Jessica McCormack’s stores are another masterclass in world-building. McCormack spends most of her time at the Mayfair “mothership”, an inspiring six-storey Victorian-era townhouse that is like a large-scale jewellery box, filled with treasures from a secret garden courtyard to an overflowing library. The jeweller attributes her eclectic aesthetic to her childhood in Christchurch. “My father was an antiques dealer and auctioneer, so I grew up surrounded by collected objects,” she says. “I have been completely fascinated ever since with jewellery from the late Georgian and early Victorian eras.” Back at the mothership, a basement workshop reinvigorates some of the rare antique jewellery techniques McCormack discovered while working in the jewellery department at Sotheby’s. They meld these with modern designs. “Even after all these years, London’s creativity and cultural diversity continues to inspire me every day.” In recent years, McCormack has opened another townhouse in Chelsea, and a concession store in Harrods. For New Zealand, there is a dedicated retail space at Simon James. “New Zealand will always be incredibly important to me – it’s home, and it continues to shape my perspective in so many ways.” Such a personal approach has seen the brand outperform luxury industry trends, and now Jessica McCormack is rolling out stores across the US – on Madison Avenue (opened in 2025), in South Coast Plaza (opened at the end of August), and on Rodeo Drive (to come in 2027). Meanwhile, McCormack is working on a new collection, Bows. It’s a challenge she set herself to reinterpret such a classic (and pretty) jewellery motif in a way that is new and distinctive. It’s a fine balance. Lyall Hakaraia Fashion designer, stylist, club and collective founder Time is merely a construct for Lyall Hakaraia, who reaches to the past and present, and seems to be everywhere at once. They grew up in creative circles in Kororāreka (Russell), and, after attending the Elam School of Fine Arts, moved to London as fashion and club culture were colliding in 1990. Hakaraia learnt to sew alongside the likes of Alexander McQueen while running a market stall, then shop, in Notting Hill. In 2008, they opened VFD, a queer club and exhibition space in Dalston, and went on to create dancewear designs for Madonna, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. Hakaraia is still a creative director of VFD, and is involved with the queer black carnival group Fagamuffin and wellbeing support group Black Trans Project. With a new wave of Pasifika people arriving in their adopted city, they take pride in mentoring new talent. More recently, they have been a consultant for the repatriation of Hinemihi o te Ao Tawhito in Surrey, and of a Kiwi ceremonial waka from Cologne, Germany. Such work “feels, for me, that it’s a tap on the shoulders from my tupuna”. Among other projects, Hakaraia recently held the Matakite fashion show and cultural activation at the British Museum. Bringing designers together from across the Pacific, it was a moving offering to their ancestors while connecting with contemporary identities. Available to pre-order, Hakaraia’s limited-edition Matikuku Pāpaka scarves are printed with a carving by Momoe Tasker, who is also a member of the InterIsland Collective, an art and activist group which Hakaraia co-founded. For the future, the polymath is looking to undertake a PhD that will bring together quantum physics, material culture and Te Ao Māori. “The very core of quantum physics is that particles are in many places at once,” Hakaria says. “There’s this really interesting correlation with … the way that we have been viewing the universe for aeons.” Leah Forsyth-Steel & Victoria Spicer Monument founders On the eastern edge of London, Monument gallery showcases museum-worthy pieces to live beside. From Tom Dixon’s Biorock chair, covered in man-made coral after it was submerged in the ocean, to a selection of abandoned concrete spheres from St Ann’s Square in Manchester, each distinct acquisition could come with its own didactic panel, but is best displayed in an entirely new context. Monument was founded by Aucklanders Leah Forsyth-Steel and Victoria Spicer in 2020 after the mutual friends cemented their friendship in London. “We saw a kindred spirit in each other,” says Spicer. “The passion and the respect and awe, and the obsession of finding these things,” says Forsyth-Steel. The pair, who have each been in London for around 14 years, have complementary skill sets. Forsyth-Steel worked at galleries and museums and has the strategic and creative vision for the business, while Spicer, who went to art school and has worked in film, is more focused on the practicalities – and photography. Monument attracts the attention of serious collectors spanning the UK, US, Europe, and Asia. (It also ships to New Zealand – a concrete outdoor garden set has already landed.) It also offers a 350-piece collection of stand-out pieces available for hire. This is a favourite of the fashion set, with clients including Gucci, Burberry, and Valentino. The pair also offer private sourcing and styling services. While they are driven by instinct, the duo is most interested in radical design, especially from Germany and Britain in the 1980s, and is currently researching underground Japanese designers. To elevate their archival furniture and art objects, they are perfecting prototypes for a range of plinths and platforms. They’ve shown at Salone del Mobile (with the help of Tom Dixon) in Milan and Art Basel Week in Paris, and are thinking about London Design Week next, so long as it feels aligned with their interests. Dara Klein Chef, restaurateur and author Dara Klein grew up in her parents’ beloved Wellington Italian restaurant, Maria Pias. “It was a very kind of classic trattoria in the sense that it was a restaurant imbued with a family story,” says Klein. “It was our house.” It took moving to London (for love, in 2019) to realise she wanted to create her own restaurant home. After working in kitchens across London, she held a residency at The Compton Arms in Islington, before officially opening Tiella with a friend and restaurateur from New Zealand, Ry Jessup. Housed in a former Victorian pub on East London’s Colombia Rd, the re-imagined trattoria is at the centre of Londoners’ renewed interest in regional Italian cuisine. With mahogany wood panels inside and sky-blue seating outside, Tiella is welcoming every day of the week but especially Sundays, when diners come with sunflowers in arms from the neighbouring flower market. The menu is full of family nostalgia, from seasonal passatelli in brodo (a dish from Emilia-Romagna, where Klein lived until she was 6), to textural trie pasta inspired by Klein’s grandmother’s pastificio in Puglia. Continuing her family story, Klein has now launched a cookbook, La Trattoria, which, as well as sharing recipes often on the menu at Tiella, is an ode to cooking from the heart. It’s soon to launch in America, while Klein is furthering her reach with forthcoming TV work. Running a restaurant that cuts through the busy London dining scene requires a sharp focus, but it’s worth the grind. “The moment I get really exhausted or burnt out … I can go to a meal or to one of my favourite places and the most beautiful thing is that you can be constantly re-inspired,” says Klein. “It can be a really beautiful network of friends that are almost like family.” Eva Wyles Author While her work often explores themes of loneliness and missed connections, Eva Wyles has landed on her feet in London. After developing a manuscript for a short-story collection at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and the International Institute of Modern Letters, which won her the Jean Squire Project Scholarship, Wyles moved to London in 2023 and continued to edit and add to her collection. Here, what became known as DeliveryWomen was picked up by an agent within days and published by Influx Press in 2025. The debut was met with praise, and she’s now part of a prolific writer’s group of authors who attend each other’s book launches. Next, Wyles turns her attention to the novel. Set in London, her next story is inspired by the many old and ornate buildings Wyles has walked past (especially where she lives between Camberwell and Peckham) that have been split into flats and, at times, fallen into disarray. Without giving too much away, it focuses on a newcomer to a flatshare who uncovers hidden tensions and relationships, with a sprinkling of magical realism. “I think I was interested in that contradiction in a city.” Already connected to a film agent in America, where she previously spent time working in the industry, the story may take on a life of its own. But for now, Wyles wishes to stay put in London. “I think it’s one of those cities that gives you back what you give it,” she says. “As time’s gone on, I’ve just really developed such a strong love for it.” Veere Grenney World-renowned interior designer Veere Grenney is recognised as one of the world’s finest interior designers and greatest aesthetes. Born in Dunedin and raised in Auckland in the 60s, Grenney had an innate love of interior design, but no clear path to pursue it. He found his own way via the Hippie Trail of the 70s. On reaching London, he ran a small antique store in Notting Hill before securing his first “proper job” in the 80s with leading London design firm Mary Fox Linton, then becoming a director at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. In 1996, he launched his own company, Veere Grenney Associates, which in 2026 officially rebranded as Grenney Greig, to acknowledge a 25-year collaboration with Natasha Greig. From their Chelsea Studio, the pair add to a global portfolio, from romantic English country houses to modern city apartments and homes for the Abu Dhabi royal family. Grenney’s work is classically based but always respects the client and their home’s environment. His work often takes him to America, and wherever his clients have holiday homes – Mustique comes to mind. In the past six years, Grenney has published two books. Veere Grenney: On Decorating – A Point of View is a design bible befitting his meticulous attention to detail. Seeking Beauty opens the door to three of his homes – Gazebo, his harmonious house and garden in Tangier, Temple, the (now sold) Palladian folly in Surrey, and his colourful, contemporary flat in London. “My work is very layered and probably comfort is the overriding factor,” he says. Grenney has given his eye to a range of fabrics and wallpaper with Schumacher, and a collection of furniture and accessories with The Lacquer Company. 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