Kiwi cheek brings huge reward

By Dita De Boni

Good fortune, a bit of cheek and plenty of nous gave Perri Drysdale the best unpaid advertising she will surely ever receive.

She wanted the world to get a glimpse of her company's black merino polo shirt, one of 21 commissioned for the Apec leaders - and she grabbed her chances.

Perri Drysdale, managing director of Christchurch-based clothing company Snowy Peak, asked President Bill Clinton during a chance encounter on Sunday to "unzip his jacket a little bit" when he made his televised entrance to the Apec leaders meeting at Auckland Museum yesterday.

To her delight, Mr Clinton went one better, removing the jacket entirely and braving wind and rain to reveal the shirt to the world. The impact was instant.

Perri Drysdale, who has spent 15 years developing an export market in Japan, was thrilled.

"I was so excited I phoned our Japanese office, who had already seen the broadcast and were ecstatic."

Her opportunity to petition the President came during the leaders' dinner at the Auckland Town Hall.

She was seated next to a well-connected member of the Peruvian delegation, who not only introduced her to his own President, Alberto Fujimori, but Mr Clinton as well.

She said Mr Clinton loved the fabric - "he said the feel was fantastic" - and she expected the international broadcast to be a major boost to Snowy Peak's sales.

"This is seriously major opportunity," she said.

After sitting for several months on her company's secret clothing coup - as well as struggling to interpret measurements sent from leaders all over the globe - Perri Drysdale says the whole event has left her "over the moon."

The long-sleeved polo shirt, a special edition of a stock garment, retails for about $180.

Snowy Peak also provided merino mink shawls - a blend of wool and possum fibre - to leaders' wives.