When the three-way collaboration between Coastal Design, shoe designer Kathryn Wilson and leading concierge company Touch of Spice was announced, everyone was fascinated to see what would emerge. With Urbis Designday only a few days away, Urbis spoke to designer and owner of Coastal Design, Jo Eddington, about what's in wait for Designday guests visiting the showroom.

Q Can you describe your installation in five words?

…You'll have to come see!

Q What is waiting for Designday guests when they arrive at Coastal Design?

Im pretty excited to make our debut at Urbis Designday 2012. I won't give too much away though! We've taken the theme Colour in Motion and put our own unique and fun twist on it, so expect vibrant, rich colour…drama …and a few quirky surprises!

Q What has been the best thing about working with Kathryn Wilson and Touch of Spice?

The best thing is the incredible buzz and excitement around creating something unique and fun for our first Designday. Kathryn is a great friend so I was thrilled to collaborate with her as my creative partner. She's an incredibly talented designer with amazing ideas … anyone who knows Kath knows how infectious her energy is so that has been great. As soon as we sat down together we immediately knew what we wanted to do and we set about bringing our vision for Designday to life. That's when Jacqui and the Touch of Spice team stepped in. It is brilliant to have them involved; their ability to pull off first class events is renowned New Zealand wide, so they are taking care of every last detail to bring our ideas to life. How lucky are we! We are also fortunate to have some fantastic sponsors on board including BMW, Veuve Cliquot, M.A.C, Westpac Private Bank, Kim Crawford Wines, Natural Tree Products, Vide Flora and more.

Q Any stressful moments in the preparation?

None so far - just lots of good energy! We've got a cool support team working crazy hours this week to make the day great and we're all just really excited. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and hoping they enjoy our installation, as we plan on having seriously good fun on Saturday.

http://urbismagazine.com/articles/whats-happening-at-coastal-design/?utm_source=Urbis+newsletter&utm_campaign=247fe68175-Urbis_Newsletter_22_March_2012&utm_medium=email 

Jacqui Spice, founder and CEO of Touch of Spice, has been named as one of their Villa Specialists for 2012, the fourth year in a row.

Jacqui is delighted with the honour - "Awards and endorsements from Condé Nast Traveler carry huge prestige with influential people on where they should travel to next. Our client base is predominantly Australians and New Zealanders so this award will help us grow our European and American clients immensely."

It's easy!

Just visit the Coastal Design Showroom at 24 Garfield Street, Parnell, Auckland as part of Urbis Designday on Saturday 24 March and vote for us!

The installation is a collaboration of 3 great creative minds - Jacqui Spice from Touch of Spice, Kathryn Wilson from Kathryn Wilson Footwear and Jo Eddington from Coastal Design.

To purchase tickets visit eventfinder.co.nz or urbismagazine.com.

Jacqui Spice is the founder, sole shareholder and CEO of Touch of Spice. She has over two decades of experience in luxury hospitality, specialising in catering to the discerning traveller. ME Magazine first met her about a year and a half ago, we were pleasantly surprised at her down to earth nature, major levels of enthusiasm and her tenacity, which were all apparent from the moment we met Jacqui.

How long has the company been operating for and how did it start?

The business has been operating for just over 6 years now. I started Touch of Spice in Queenstown as it is not only New Zealand's adventure playground, it's also where the affluent go to play. After many years working on board luxury Super Yachts travelling around the world catering to VIP's and the like I recognised a gap in NZ for a land-based version of what I was doing - hence I set up Touch of Spice, your personal concierge. This later became The Touch of Spice Group as our concierge services expanded.

How old are you?

40 just turned… ssshhh.

What was the first business you owned and/or first job you ever had?

The first job I ever had would have been a paper round while I was still at school begrudgingly no doubt - I always felt I was destined for bigger and better things so after that pretty much didn't have a job until I left school at the ripe old age of 16. I became a receptionist for a dental company called Ivoclar Dental and then moved up the secretarial ranks until I realized there must be more to life and went overseas to work in the luxury yachting industry.

Check out the full article plus great pictures of Jacqui with her son Ollie here - http://www.memagazine.co.nz/

Introducing the world's best vacation crafters

 I took flight to Southern California last week, for a few days at the largely undiscovered Terranea Resort, and started feeling good the moment I arrived at this lovely 582-room, 102-acre oasis of calm and comfort plopped down along one of the most gorgeous stretches of Pacific Ocean landscape on the West Coast.

I was a guest at the annual gathering of industry lights who have been named to Conde Nast Traveler's list of the World's Top Travel Specialists. There were meetings with the magazine's editors, plus discussions of trends and the role of social media.

I couldn't wait to get back and introduce you to some of the people I met among this gathering of small-business owners from all over the world, who managed to be so good at what they do that they were decreed "best" by Conde Nast Traveler...

You can read the rest of Richard's article at http://www.travelweekly.com/Richard-Turen/Introducing-the-world-s-best-vacation-crafters/#disqus_thread

 

Coastal Design is recognised as New Zealand's most popular outdoor furniture brand while Kathryn Wilson is New Zealand's most successful footwear designer, celebrated for her innovative designs and exceptionally high quality.

More than 100 guests including some of the country's most inspiring creatives and many of Auckland's leading design showrooms congregated on the Roxy Rooftop Terrace for the exclusive launch of Urbis Designday 2012 and the big reveal of the designer pairings.

This year's creative talent - a fusion of designers from the worlds of fashion, art, architecture, interiors, furniture, landscape, spatial and graphic design - are currently collaborating with their showroom partners to create a series of temporary installations, open to the public for one day only on Saturday 24 March.

The Urbis Designday 2012 theme is 'Colour in Motion' and it is up to the design collaborations to decide how they interpret this within their showpieces.

Tickets are now on sale at eventfinder.co.nz for $30 per person or $50 for a double. The ticket cost includes chauffeured transport around the showrooms throughout the day and decadent and interesting hospitality along the way. The day runs from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 24 March.

Image - Jeff Brass

The NZ Millennium Cup is now an annual event organised by NZ Marine Export Group, the industry association responsible for promoting the NZ Marine industry to the world.

The regatta is designed to showcase New Zealand's impressive superyacht build and refit industry and facilities. It includes a strong mix of sailing races and social events and is expected to quickly become the premier event for superyachts in the South Pacific.

Touch of Spice were delighted to be Gold Sponsors of this fabulous sailing event.

Check out this pic on board Imagine, with Dean Barker at the helm!

Racing on the three days of this prestigious event will take place close to shore, in the Waitemata harbour and inner Hauraki Gulf. This means those on vantage points at Devonport, North Head, Bastion Point, on the East Coast Bays and Whanagaparoa Peninsula, as well as along the Motutapu and Rangitoto shorelines, will be able to see all of the action as these luxurious 30-metre-plus vessels battle for supremacy.

NZ Millennium Cup organisers have designed courses that start and finish off Viaduct Harbour, ensuring there will also be good viewing at both ends of the races for those working in the CBD.

When not racing, the superyacht owners and their guests will be given the chance to experience some of New Zealand's finest food and wine in a mixture of casual and formal settings. These will range from a "Kiwi bach" themed post-race function in the Floating Pavilion to a formal gala dinner and prizegiving in The Cloud on Princes Wharf, complete with a charity auction to raise money for Coastguard, both organised by our Events division, Touch of Spice Events.

Skiers and snowboarders can buy the best-value season passes for Mt Hutt, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski areas until midnight on Thursday March 15, taking advantage of prices frozen at 2011 levels.

Click here to find out what's new as well as all pass holder benefits.  Coronet Peak is scheduled to open on 9 June and Remarks on 16 June. Both mountains plan to close on 7 October.