The Pammy show: Be A*Mused

A model wears fashion piece from the A*Muse Fashion show. Photo / Babiche Martens

The Pam and Richie show has left town, leaving in its wake a vision of blonde hair, lots of tanned skin and quotes about how life should be fun, fun, fun.

Among all the hoopla you may, or may not, have noticed that Pamela Anderson and Richie Rich launched a clothing range, A*Muse, while they were here. We were, in fact, the first in the world to see this collaboration between the beach babe and the New York designer responsible for the successful label Heatherette.

"It was named after a girl I knew called Heather in San Francisco," Rich tells me at the press party after the show. "She had one arm, this thing with her lip and an upper voice." I'm not sure what this means as he is now muttering something that sounds like "oosh, oosh. oosh". I think this means "cheers" as he is waving his glass of Moet in my direction.

Heatherette was a wild and outrageous label, an extension of Richie Rich himself, aimed at New York club kids and a reflection of his ethos inherited from his mum.

"She told me, they is a four letter word - I'm not going to say f***, s*** or d*** - she said 'don't try and be like they', always try and be different. Always be something that you believe in and be who you are." Right then.

Heatherette went on to be worn by the likes of Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefano, Missy Eliott, John Galliano, L'il Kim, Paris Hilton, Jessica Parker ... The list goes on. Now Rich and Anderson are hoping for the same response to A*Muse - a collection consisting mainly of beachwear that comes with a message.

"It's all about saving the animals, being smart and having a message," explains Rich.

"But it's all about having fun. Pam and I, we always have fun together. Life should be about passion and having fun."

For Anderson the message is all-important. She is a vegetarian (she gave up meat as a teenager after seeing her dad slaughter an animal after hunting), an advocate for animal rights (she and her two boys regularly work at the animal shelter close to their home) and an active member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. As we huddle on a couch over more Champagne she talks at top speed about wanting to make a difference.

"Every day you learn something new about the world around us," she says. "I just learned about the mountain of plastic in the ocean. I mean that's just disgusting. So, if you're going to do something, do it right - be it choosing the right fabrics or where you are going to get things manufactured.

"If you put the thought into it at the beginning instead of trying to fix it at the end... instead of having a problem that you have to fix why not do it right in the first place. With A*Muse we want to inspire people to think about it but not to be too preachy, we're going to have fun with it. Like go vegetarian - we're doing it anyway so why not incorporate it into it the range?

"We've got organic cottons and the boots we're going to be doing are made out of recycled bottles. A company called Ultrasuede has this great fabric they make out of recycled bottles which we are going to use."

The clothes that came down the runway last week were a mix of spray-painted cotton bikinis for the babes and tight togs for the boys (no beach baggies here), tight singlet dresses and some cute all-in-one jumpsuits and harem pants that you could actually see yourself in at a beach party.

The pair chose to launch the label in New Zealand, explains brand manager Cliff Loftin who was travelling with them, "because they felt New Zealand captured the spirit of what the line is going to be about. You guys are so conscientious about your country, what's brought into it, how you do things, how you respect the environment. As a result, New Zealand will play an important part in the story of the brand."

The plan is to now take A*Muse to the world. Every alternate week, when Pam isn't home with her two sons, she'll be on tour visiting cities such as Dubai, Berlin, Milan, Sao Paulo, Chicago, Singapore, China ...

"It's all about increasing awareness," says Anderson, who names Vivienne Westwood as one of her design heroes and who she has walked down the runway for. "Vivienne adopted me because she knows that everything I do - even if it's fun, wild and crazy - I still have a message. My passion is about helping people and helping animals and I talk about it and she's really political. Vivienne's really into the Gaia theory and global warming, and so am I, so it's great."

Other designers Anderson respects and wears - when she is wearing clothes - are the likes of Thierry Muegler and Stella McCartney. "Stella McCartney anything ... I love her. She's also another great inspiration. I love body stuff and relaxed stuff. And that's what our collection is all about. Wear them at the beach or when you are going out. That is kind of what my life is - at the beach, in the car, at the pool, to the club ... wherever you're going ... work."

Sounds like Anderson and Rich are too busy having fun creating A*Muse for it to be considered work.

"That could be our logo," enthuses Rich dreamily. "A world with fun wrapped around it ...

"You know, last night we went to Denny's." Denny's in the city? "It was funny because when I was growing up I would sit in Denny's in San Francisco and say, 'I'm going to go to New York and all my dreams are going to come true. And I'm doing it with my best friend Pam."

•It is yet to be confirmed where in NZ A*Muse will be distributed.