Glamour Rock

Who says punk rock isn’t glamorous? Check out the new ‘do’s’ girl band Grrfriendz are sporting, courtesy of Vada Hair, in readiness for their performance at K’ Road’s three-day Fang Fest being held over Labour Weekend. Toyah (left), Annabel (centre) and Sophia have been honing their traditional girl punk sound for eighteen months now, save for a short sabbatical in Asia recently, and will be belting it out again at 4b Cross St at 4.30pm on Saturday.

French Fare

La Noisette Chocolats & Pâtisseries 
Fresh from her role as sous chef at The Langham, Auckland, French pastry chef Oscar is unleashing her talents on K' Road patrons at her first cafe venture La Noisette at 518 K' Road. Coffee, cakes, croissants and bagettes are all on the menu along with hand-made chocolates in such delectable flavours as coconut vanilla white rum.
Enjoy the warmth of exposed brick walls, wood and maroon-coloured fittings, draped linen table cloths and a picture-book view of the street's activities.

The Great White Way – A K’ Road Heritage Festival Free Event

Once a shopping mecca for Aucklanders, inner city K’ Road and its environs bustled with activity in the 1950’s. Police were on hand to monitor crowds as people flocked to take advantage of late night shopping and cinema screenings. Learn more about the electric atmosphere of early K’ Road at historian Edward Bennett’s lecture, The Great White Way. 

AOK - All on K' Road Fashion Event

See the launch of four leading K’ Road designers’ combined show at NZ Fashion

Weekend on Saturday 7 September. And join the precinct’s fashion fraternity on

Sunday 8 September.as it demonstrates the innovation and cutting edge design it’s

renowned for.

AOK Show

All established fashion leaders in their own right, four K’ Road designers including

Maaike,Hailwood, Jimmy D and Lela Jacobs, are set to wow audiences in a group

show at the Viaduct Event Centre on Saturday 7 September at 2.30pm. Current

Spring/Summer collections from all four will be showing and all runway items will be

available for purchase at designer’s respective stores post show.

 AOK Day

Following on from K’ Road’s AOK NZ Fashion Weekend show, the precinct will be

showcasing the diversity of its fashion offering on Sunday 8 September. Fashion

shows, live installations, street art and shop specials will feature throughout the day

as fashion stores, cafes and designer studios the length of the strip throw open their doors.

Self Published Works on Show

It’s five years since that event which champions self-publishing, Auckland Zinefest, was born.  And to mark the occasion this vehicle for free expression and experimentation provides, a three-day festival of zine-related activities is planned.  Kicking off with a launch party at the Audio Foundation on Friday 26 July, the festival’s signature market will follow on Saturday 27 July in St Kevin’s Arcade.  The market’s 40-strong stall holder presence will be complemented by workshops and talks being held throughout the arcade and in the basement Wine Cellar.

Highlights on Saturday include workshops on typography and cartooning, a talk on digital publishing and a panel discussion on the history of zine culture in New Zealand.  With Saturday’s programme also extending into the evening, an after party at the Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar is scheduled complete with live music and will also provide a forum for announcement of the “Zine of the Fest’ award.

Sunday is a family affair when Auckland City Library will be running a children’s zine-making workshop with the aim of creating a collaborative zine.  And for zine fanatics, a festival warm-up ’24-hour Zine-Making Challenge’ is a set for Friday 19 July.

Laser Cutting & Innovative Design

Young designers Helen Jarvis and Alan Syxomexune don’t do things by halves.  Their first retail venture together sees them setting up a laser cutting service complete with a cutting machine twice the size of any currently on offer in Auckland.  The machine, with facility to cut wood, plastic or paper up to 20 mm thick, allows rapid prototyping of things like architectural models and can also be used for creating products such as furniture or jewellery.

The pair, a graphic design graduate and post graduate architectural student respectively, plan to offer a laser cutting service to the public priced at student rates.  In addition their new premises at 203 K’ Road entitled Work I Shop will provide retail space for their own laser cut jewellery and homeware items sold under the label Wandrer.  The Wandrer brand will also share space with clothing from Alan’s menswear range Dishonest Want and prints supplied by two illustrator friends.  An upstairs space is earmarked for a workroom where Helen and Alan can fashion their own creations on site as well as fulfil a recent commitment to ‘the100daysproject’.  ‘We’re aiming to create one desirable object a day,’ says Helen.  Work I Shop will open on Monday 8 July.

Apps, Maps and Free Guided Walks

Fourteen street artists from around New Zealand and one from as far afield as Melbourne descended on K’ Road last month.  Their mission; to put their creative mark on Auckland’s quirky, character precinct.  Although known as an arty, alternative area, “for some reason very few artworks have been painted in K’ Road,” says Precinct Manager Barbara Holloway.  It’s been her dream to rectify this situation.  So when local artist and curator of Taupo’s Graffiato festival Ross Liew joined K’ Road Business Association’s committee last year, this dream moved closer to reality.

A bit of budget tweaking interspersed by conversations with potential sponsors followed, allowing the KBA to come up with bare bones funding for a street art festival.  Ross, meanwhile, assisted by First Thursdays founder Cleo Barnett, set about selecting the cream of the country’s street artists to take part in it.  His criteria for participants - a record of reliability and quality in the execution of their artwork.  “I think it’s important that, if you’re offering these opportunities to artists that, in my mind, they’ve earned it,” he says.

With building owners persuaded to provide a variety of walls throughout the district, May 3 saw 14 creatives begin their three-day All Fresco Festival challenge.  And challenged they were, when some of the worst weather to hit the country this year descended on them.  Undeterred, with some working through the night and on over a five-day stretch, each doggedly completed their brief.  The result – 13 large scale artworks (with one piece worked on by two artists) and an event which captured the interest of hundreds, including local media and TV.

“I’m stunned that we pulled it off,’ says Barbara.  We’re quite a small business association and the fact that we’ve managed to pull off something on this scale is quite breathtaking.”

A map of the decorated walls is available at alfresco.co.nz for downloading enabling people to take a self-guided walk of them.  The website also provides background information on participating artists including Wellington’s BMD crew, known for their large format works and American born Aucklander Mica Still, who exhibits a penchant for animal illustrations.  A link for an app which includes the map, artist’s biographies and photos of completed artworks will also be available for downloading and free guided walks are planned.