Most women choosing a wedding dress don't have quite the same benchmark as Ashleigh Good. The New Zealand model who shot to international fame when she starred as a pregnant bride on the Chanel catwalk is back in New Zealand with a new home, a new baby and a new
Top Kiwi model's marriage proposal at Spotlight store
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As her career was taking off, Good was going through a lot in her personal life, working through a break up and subsequent custody battles over her daughter, Emily.
She credits her family for getting her through those hard times: "They have been really supportive, and now being married to my husband, he's taken my daughter on and he loves her like his own."
Good and Lock have a son, James, and hope to have more children in the future.
"I do want to have a lot more children, so it's just a small start for me, but I really enjoy it, they have such beautiful spirits about them, but it is a full time job."
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MARRYING HER CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART
Good grew up with her now husband, Aaron Lock, and says when she returned to the church the two had attended as children she felt an instant connection that blossomed into a fairytale romance.
Reconnecting with Lock is something the model believes was "meant to happen". And just three short months after the pair became romantically involved, Lock proposed outside a Spotlight store in Auckland's Albany.
Good says her proposal story begins and ends at the fabric and craft store, where, while standing outside one day she became overwhelmed by the feeling that Lock would one day be her husband.
"All of a sudden this feeling of, 'you're going to marry this man' just came over me, it was so powerful."
Lock made several different attempts to propose to the girl of his dreams. In the end, he took her back to the spot where their love was first sparked, outside Spotlight, and got down on one knee.
They married among family at a venue in Kumeu, West Auckland and Good says the celebration of two families becoming one was something that was destined to happen.
CHANNELING CHANEL
A triumph for any model, Good was bestowed the honour of being a Chanel bride not once but twice. She says she has a special relationship with Karl Lagerfeld, who designed an entire collection around her, his pregnant muse.
"To find out that Karl had designed the entire collection based on the dress he designed for me was a pretty "wow" moment. It was definitely a testament to how much of a family I had become with Chanel and how much of a great friend Karl had become to me."
So when it came to deciding on her own wedding dress, of course the bride turned to Karl's creations for her as inspiration.
"It took parts from both gowns to inspire my own, so the top part was lace, which was from my first gown, and the bottom was just nice and simple."
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PAPARAZZI BACKLASH
Modelling for such iconic designers hasn't come without a downside. Good recalls being harassed by paparazzi as she entered and left fashion shows.
After a Miu runway show, Good was sat with a number of other models in a bus stop where they were surrounded by Paparazzi and hounded for photos.
Ashleigh and the other models saw the humour in the situation and decided to turn the cameras on the photographers who she describes as "relentless".
GIVING BACK TO THE INDUSTRY
With so much experience under her belt, Good has turned her focus to helping younger models succeed in the industry.
"I really love to see them in shows, I teach our boys and girls how to walk before we have the castings, I love taking their rawness and developing it into what I've learned over the years."
FASHION WEEK JITTERS
While she's paraded on runways all over the world, Good says the nerves are still there when she walks in New Zealand Fashion Week.
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"I still get nervous before I walk, whether its on a Chanel runway or on a runway here, it's just a rush you can't get anywhere else."
Good is set to walk for Hailwood and at the time of our interview was being cast for other designers too.
New Zealand Fashion Week, begins on August 28 at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland.
