New Zealand Fashion Week Day 1 Wrap with Mima Lewis Gourdie

Start your engines… New Zealand Fashion Week is here. This is your daily wrap with New Zealand Fashion Week Head Dresser and Metropol Magazine‘s NZFW correspondent Mima Lewis Gourdie! @mimalg_studio MONDAY – OPENING NIGHT ‘The Art Of Style’ In it’s 25th rendition, NZFW is on the resurgence after new ownership, and it’s gotten […]

The fight against homelessness: Christchurch leaders swap warm beds for cardboard

On one of winter’s coldest nights, 13 August 2026, more than 40 leaders and key figures in the Christchurch community will swap warm beds for cardboard at an inaugural sleepout inside One New Zealand Stadium, in a bid for public donations and to raise awareness for Ōtautahi’s alarming homelessness figures. The Big Sleepout […]

Pottery pastimes: Ruffshuffler Ceramics

As the colder months encourage us indoors, finding a fun and creative activity to enjoy with friends has never been easier. The Addington studio of Ruffshuffler Ceramics is a hive of activity, offering a range of experiences for anyone keen to try their hand at working with clay. Best of all, there’s no […]

Portrait artist Caroline Kelly

Inside the creative hum of The Arts Centre, Caroline Kelly paints from her upstairs atelier. Ahead of her gallery’s grand opening, she sits down with Metropol. “It’s a dream come true to open a gallery in such an idyllic place,” says portrait artist Caroline Kelly, standing in a space awash with light, which […]

The screen fatigue fix: Anstice Optometrists

Why the right lenses may matter more than the right coffee. By 4pm, your eyes have made thousands of tiny adjustments – shifting between monitors, phones, documents and fine print – long before the sports pickup, evening plans or final meeting. That heavy-eyed, headachy feeling isn’t always tiredness. Often, it’s visual fatigue caused […]

Otautahi’s pet ‘furtographer’

A Christchurch pet photographer (‘furtographer’) has spent 10 years travelling the world taking photos of dogs in iconic spots for his latest book, Dogs of the World. For almost a decade, Ōtautahi photographer Craig Turner-Bullock has wandered the globe with camera in hand and dogs in his heart, capturing the spirit of nearly […]

Steve’s scene: Steve Guest

Your Christchurch arts and culture round-up from global music consultant and Dolly Parton’s local publicist, Steve Guest. E ven in the cold and wet of winter, Christchurch does not disappoint. This city is becoming more vibrant than ever. The All Blacks v France game was a recent highlight, I was lucky to attend […]

Tiny hands, big talk

Before babies can talk, they have plenty to say. A smile, a point, a wave – these early gestures are the building blocks of communication. Baby signing helps families build on those natural skills through music, movement and simple signs. Baby signing isn’t about replacing speech or teaching formal sign language. Instead, it […]

The Future is Vintage! Metropol’s Postmodern Jukebox review

Metropol’s Nancye Pitt was transported back to a New York jazz club as she sat in the audience of Postmodern Jukebox’s ‘The Future is Vintage 2026 Tour’ at the Isaac Theatre Royal. Here’s her review. Last year I enjoyed a jazz club in New York, and the atmosphere last night felt just as […]

Fendalton finest

For its stunning design of a Fendalton home, Christchurch-based design practice PRau Architects has taken home a win in the New Zealand Institute of Architects regional awards. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a team to create a stunning home. From the vision of the architect to […]