KEY POINTS:
She may be a gorgeous international schleb worth millions, but that won't stop Rachel Hunter hitting Sylvia Park shopping mall today for a surprise visit to staff at The Warehouse. No, it's not some random act of charitable kindness to the middle classes a la Princess Di; Hunter is making a secret trip to check out her new range of clothing. And mum's the word.
One of Hunter's inside crew let me in on the secret last night at the launch of Hunter's new range with The Warehouse. "Shhh no one knows, but I can trust you," she said, "your column won't come out 'til Sunday and Rachel will be long gone by then," the insider 'fessed.
Hunter, who actually arrived in the country on Monday despite attempts to make it look like she'd just jetted in to announce the launch, is jetting out tomorrow. Team Rachel suggested she was flying out hours after the launch party so as not to arouse suspicion.
Why the ruse? Hunter and co's reconnaissance trip to the red shed will, other than frightening the bejeesus out of staff, drum up much-needed publicity for the new in-store Rachel Hunter range at Warehouse outlets, because I suspect like Dubya in Iraq, despite the "top secret mission," a camera crew will be at the ready.
They'd be better off having IT staff with fingers tapping, because at the time of blogging this, no mention of Hunter or her affordably priced designer range were mentioned on The Warehouse website. Not a good start to the publicity machine, I'd have thought.
But Our Rach did them proud last night. Louboutin heels aside, she pulled all her middle-class Glenfield roots out of the bag to present her middle-class fashion range with great down-to-earth Kiwi humour to an audience of critical media types - and a couple of fashion designers.
(For photos of the launch, click here.)
Yvonne Bennetti was there to support her sister Wende, who told me she's part of the design team. Rachel's range and Yvonne's are made in the same warehouse in China, she said.
But Fashion Week favourite Denise L'Estrange-Corbet was a surprise to see, not so much because she was toting her latest accessory - executive chef Ofir Yudilevich - but because cheap clothing (Hunter's collection starts at $29.99) isn't exactly L'Estrange-Corbet's style - her runway show last week used over $30,000 worth of Swarovski crystals! Perhaps designer and chef were playing nosy parkers. DLEC lives in the College Hill neighbourhood near the venue where the launch party took place. She was, we noted, casting a critical fashion eye. "Didn't pedal pushers go out in the '50s?" she opined to Ofir.
She's right, of course. Except Rachel's range is less about up-to-the-moment trends, and more about affordable fashions. I was impressed... with the collection, that is, not so much with the silly cloak and dagger ruses.
Rachel Glucina
For photos of the launch, click here. Photos by Norrie Montgomery.
Pictured above: Rachel Hunter has teamed up with The Warehouse and designed a range of womenswear called 'Rachel' available exclusively at The Warehouse. Photo / supplied
