Meet the influential Kiwi couples likely to set the agenda in business, retail, politics and media this year. Spy Editor Ricardo Simich reports.
The FMCG power couple
He started with toys, she started with shampoo and now Zuru Edge's Nick Mowbray and Jaimee Lupton are tackling everything from vitamins and collagen to pet food and nappies in their retail empire.
They also have plans to release an array of future-focused beauty brands in 2023, spearheaded by Lupton. The pair set out to disrupt supermarket shelves and launched the first product, "Monday Hair Care", with a smart social media influencer campaign alongside ambassador Top Model Georgia Fowler in March 2020. In under two years they have achieved that goal internationally. Having global celebrity Khloe Kardashian buying a stake in ZURU Edge's Dose & Co is just another power move.
The secret to their success, they tell Spy, is they don't sleep much, and dinner conversations are always work-related.
Their lives at The Toy Mansion in Coatesville and on their superyacht may seem glamorous, but they say they are secretly very boring and work a lot.
The housing barons
In a market with major growth forecast, the influence and accomplishments of housing barons Grant and Ellie Porteous are set to grow to even higher levels this year.
The pair are the owners of the New Zealand master franchise of G.J. Gardner, and see their company topping the list of new home builds month on month.
Last October New Zealand's biggest home builder started construction of its 20,000th home since it started here nearly a quarter of a century ago in 1997.
The couple have collected numerous industry awards over the years, the most recent the Reader's Digest 2021 Most Trusted Brands award in the Home Builder category.
The couple lead the New Zealand team as Managing Directors and enjoy helping create future power couples, mentoring and assisting their teams to grow. There are 31 locally-owned and operated franchises, many of which are headed by husband and wife teams
The media power pair
After 15 years of marriage, media personalities Stacey Morrison (The Hits) and husband Scott (Te Karere) have numerous roles, but it's their three children that keep them grounded in the fast-paced world of broadcasting, writing and teaching. A love of whanau and culture has seen them become one of the most respected media couples in New Zealand.
The pair have been at the forefront of the growing number of Kiwis learning and embracing Te Reo. The Morrisons decided to raise their three children bilingually and 15 years ago they helped create a Māori language learning community in Auckland with other parents, as part of Māori 4 Grown Ups.
They have written books to help others understand and learn te reo, including co-writing Māori at Home to help other families use the language in everyday settings.
The environmental farmers
Always the trendsetters, high school sweethearts Geoff and Justine Ross made a fortune putting New Zealand brands such as 42 Below and Ecoya on the world stage. But it's their farm, Aotearoa's first certified carbon zero farm Lake Hawea Station - a merino sheep and angus beef high country station in Central Otago - that the pair believe will be their biggest achievement.
Their energy for creating a regenerative agriculture movement in New Zealand is attracting high-profile visitors, and school groups wanting to learn more about farming, fibre and food that will leave a positive impact on the environment.
It's a family affair, with the couple's adult children loving their new life in the South Island - fishing, hunting and constantly exploring and preserving the pristine environment with their folks.
The wealthiest couple
New Zealand's richest man Graeme Hart dominates in multiple industries and areas, while wife Robyn has always been known to throw sophisticated events, whether it be business, social or for charity.
Last year she opened up to Spy about her own career and the beautiful floral business that shows off her creative talents. Hart joined forces with friend Leanne de Wit to launch Bloom and Vivid, which creates floral art from handmade silk flowers. The business makes limited edition wall art for the home, office, bach or holiday home.
The fashion side of the business is growing too, and Australian heiress Cartier Lee — girlfriend of Robyn's son Harry — is the model for the various Bloom and Vivid ranges.
Harry is joint owner with his father in the Hart family food business Walter & Wild. Their imprint on the FMCG world is growing fast. Included in their portfolio of supermarket brands is Emerald Foods Group, Hubbard's, Gregg's, Aunt Betty's, I Love Food, Hansells and Alfa One.
The property developer King and Queen
Chris and Michaela Meehan founded Winton in 2009, a development company with many large-scale projects in progress in New Zealand and Australia. It specialises in planned communities and has a portfolio of 7500 residential lots, dwellings, apartments and retirement village units.
Last month, Winton Land announced their plans for listing on the NZX and ASX.
The pair have royal connections too. Chris was formerly Mary Donaldson's boss at Belle Property in Sydney. Mary went on to marry Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
The dynamic mall duo
Ross and Dallas Pendergrast have owned and operated many retail sites across Auckland for decades. Six years ago they bought Glenfield Mall and have been hands on co-owners and managers. In 2020 when the first of the Covid lockdowns hit, the couple say it struck them as extremely unfair seeing smaller tenants struggling to survive with little Government help so they tried to cut through bureaucracy to find the right support. Through 2020-21 the couple maintained significant rent relief, while juggling the ongoing running of the property.
During that time they lobbied the Government heavily, which resulted in then leader of the opposition Simon Bridges inviting Dallas to appear in front of the Epidemic Response Committee to make an impassioned plea on behalf of Auckland businesses. She kept fighting the fight for retailers in the long 2021 lockdown, regularly appearing in the media to do so.
The luxury power couple
Edward and Constance von Dadelszen have had Chanel and Gucci prices on their NZ-made products for several years in their Parnell showroom, and the well-heeled have bought up a storm.
Most sought after are their garments and leather goods designed and produced by heritage artisans in Tuscany, Milan and Paris. Last November the pair, who married in Florence in 2019, opened a department store called Faradays, around the corner from their showroom.
Fashion brands such as Alexandre Vauthier, Louboutin, Givenchy, Alaïa, and La Perla are on offer alongside gorgeous homeware and artisan brands. In its ultra-modern design and layout, Faradays is like nothing Auckland has seen before - complete with a bar with the very best Champagne to help lubricate your shopping.
The philanthropic duo
For the second year in a row, one of Auckland's dynastic retail and hospitality landlords Daniel Friedlander cut rents by up to 80 per cent for his Samson Corporation tenants to ease the pain of the last 20 months of various lockdowns in Auckland. Dairies, hairdressers, florists, clothing, home essentials, cafés and restaurant tenants, to name a few, that were unable or very limited to trade.
Friedlander and his wife Jillian are fulfilling the family ethos, which spans decades to the founder, father Sir Michael and his mother, the late Harriet.
Since the 1960s The Friedlander Foundation has aimed to reduce inequality within Aotearoa, and has long-standing relationships with numerous arts organisations and youth-focused programmes. Outward Bound, The Liggins Institute and the Auckland Medical Research Foundation to name just a few.
The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic had a big impact and assistance was given to all organisations. The couple are now looking how best to continue their support over the next decade.
Most influential sporting couples
None of them may be playing professionally any more, but former All Black captain Richie McCaw and wife and former Black Stick Gemma tie with another rugby/hockey couple Dan and Honor Carter in this category.
The Christchurch-based McCaws have found their love of exercise and outdoor pursuits suit their relationship with Tourism NZ nicely. On social media they steer us on the best places to go to enjoy our country through hiking, family adventures and classic Kiwi getaways.
The Carters have popped up on our TV screens over the last year for Australian chain The Chemist Warehouse - not in the same sphere as the luxury brands we usually see Dan associated with, like Louis Vuitton or TAG Heuer.
But be in no doubt - the tourism and chemist deals are among the most lucrative contracts in the country.
The glamour pair
For over a decade property investors Simon and Paula Herbert have worked together beautifying homes throughout the country and investing in an array of developments, most notably several marinas.
For several years the couple have split their time between New Zealand, London and the Mediterranean, mixing business and pleasure on their 42.8-metre superyacht H.
The pair are always dressed in their designer best and know how to do glamour with aplomb. It served them well this year when they mixed it up on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival with Hollywood stars Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya at the premiere of sci-fi movie Dune.
Weeks later they more than held their own with A Listers in London, when they attended the World Premiere of Bond movie No Time to Die. The pair's box, which they shared with the chair of the UK Conservative Party Oliver Dowden and his wife Blythe, saw the couple looking down at no less than HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Charles, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The showbiz couple
Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh might be our wealthiest power wielding showbiz couple, but as far as popular culture goes, it's the new relationship between fellow director Taika Waititi and his British pop star girlfriend Rita Ora that has captured the world's imagination.
Their romance first hit headlines when they appeared together in Sydney, before travelling to the celebrity capitals of the world including Los Angeles and New York, with Ora taking Waititi to London. When Waititi brings Ora home to Aotearoa, the interest will be huge and they will officially become a local power couple.
Ora has been a godsend for Waititi's fashion game. Since dating the fashionista he now channels old school Hollywood glamour with her on the red carpet and takes to his Instagram to thank designers like Prada or Thom Browne for turning him out in their best tailoring.
The political power couple
Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford have held court as a power couple since Ardern became Prime Minister in 2017. Walking into Buckingham Palace together, pregnant with baby Neve, helped fuel International interest in the pair. While Ardern has steered her Government, Gayford has moved from fishing shows to hitching villas to trucks in his TVNZ show Moving Houses. Their celebrity wedding in Gisborne at the end of this month will generate global headlines and that might just be the zenith of this popular climb.
And is there another political power couple coming in the form of the new Leader of the Opposition, National's Christopher Luxon, and wife Amanda? Gayford has the showbiz glitz but Amanda's career in education is bound to win her fans. We'll watch this one with interest in 2022.
The medical entrepreneurs
After co-founding two successful New Zealand start-ups - Au Pair Link and My Food Bag - entrepreneurs Cecilia and James Robinson last year created healthcare start-up Tend.
The couple saw a niche in the market and created the virtual primary healthcare provider, where they serve as co-CEOs.
They intend to shape the future of the industry with a new kind of healthcare experience for busy modern life, and lockdowns would have shown how valuable the new services can be.
Cecilia, a Herald Premium columnist, recently wrote about what it was like giving birth in hospital during the Covid pandemic.
