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For curious onlookers hoping to get in on the fashion week hullabaloo, Christian Siriano was almost the miracle on 34th Street.

As the new creative director of Macy’s’ private label I.N.C., his show was supposed to parade outside of its flagship at Herald Square but was moved inside at the last minute — so goes public event planning in New York City. “But you know what?” offered an ebullient Siriano. “This is exactly what I really wanted.” 

What he really wanted was something “salon-style,” and he delivered. Plush bone carpeting blanketed the lower accessories level, with mounds of white hydrangeas trellising the matching drapes. “When you walk in, you feel like you’re in a dream world, somewhere else for 20 minutes.” 

That’s the magic of Macy’s and all department stores and, for under half an hour, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah and Lizzo were whisked into an Old Hollywood film noir starring Marlene Dietrich reimagined through Siriano’s ‘80s arch glamour lens.

Coco Rocha hammed it up in the opener, looking like career Barbie with her flying saucer hat and an exaggerated skirt suit in clashing stripes and polka dots. The latter is shaping up to be a major trend in New York and velvet ones decorated enormous loofa-like taffeta poufs, erupting from just about every part of the human anatomy. “It’s a lot of shapes,” quipped Siriano.

Sinuous gowns in laminated lace and metallized silk were more Oscar-worthy, especially one in white chiffon with crystals lining the boned corset. For the guys, a corseted tuxedo jacket with tails that swept the floor was equally winning. 

Corsetry also inspired Siriano’s take on I.N.C.’s signature black blazer, celebrating 40 years. Spliced into pieces and with oversize shoe laces tying it together, it was modeled by Ava Claire and will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the CFDA.

Apart from I.N.C., Siriano tied up with Capri Sun for a silver clutch bag with beaded orange and cherry fringe and the newly minted Humane World for Animals on a maxi coat look printed with an entire zoo.

While these felt gimmicky, bursting the fantasy bubble, what brought you back to the land of Oz were jolts of teal, lavender and hot pink after 51 turns in black-and-white. Siriano said: “The whole thing ends as if somebody turned on the color.”

After decades in business, Anne is confident that her people skills will be one of her greatest assets if elected.

“My father always used to say I should be an ambassador’s wife, and I would say, ‘Why not the ambassador?’” she laughs. “I think that’s important if you’re going into politics. It’s not just about you and the issues you want to push, it’s about hearing what other people want and what their needs are.”

Another reason Anne has decided to toss her hat into the ring is that, after years of running the New Zealand Cat Foundation almost entirely on her own, she finally has a solid team of staff and volunteers to help keep the sanctuary running.

She knows that if voters choose her to help make the city a better place, her beloved rescue cats will be in good hands.

“We have somebody who handles the fostering and adoption, we have someone who organises the volunteers and gives them an orientation when they arrive, and I have a really good manager,” she enthuses. “We even have someone who looks after our TikTok. It’s been invaluable because everything isn’t falling on my shoulders all the time any more.”

Her excitement for the future has been important for Anne in the past few months after breaking her shoulder in a scary accident.

Anne and her husband Richard were about to set off for a weekend away when she noticed the neighbour’s cat exploring their driveway. She went to return it to the neighbours, afraid it would wander behind the car and get hit.

As she was walking back, Richard decided to be chivalrous and reverse down the driveway to pick her up. But the cat suddenly reappeared behind the vehicle. Anne raced to rescue it, but Richard did not see her and the car’s sensors didn’t activate, so he hit her with the large SUV.

“I’m facing the road, trying to move the cat, when suddenly … Boom!” Anne recalls. “I’m lucky I’m alive because it hurled me. My knees were black and blue, I smashed down on my hands and my shoulder went straight into the ground.”

Anne says she usually avoids taking painkillers, but she was in so much agony, she gladly accepted medication from her helpful neighbour while they waited for the ambulance.

At the hospital, doctors confirmed she had broken her shoulder. Thankfully, it wasn’t displaced, so she didn’t need surgery. However, it had to be taped up and she couldn’t move it for eight weeks so the bone could properly set.

Even now, Anne is only allowed minimal movement and it could take up to six months to heal completely.

Luckily, Richard, whom she affectionately calls Cuddly, has been more than happy to help.

“He has had to do everything for me,” she shares. “When my knees were still sore, I couldn’t even bend down to put the cat food on the ground. He helps me get my arm through my dressing gown and pulls up my stockings. I even have to get him to backcomb my hair!

“He was getting a bit stressed because he’s busy, but I said, ‘It’s not my fault. If you hadn’t hit me, I’d be okay,’” Anne laughs.

With the campaign now on, Anne is focused on her mission. And while she has big plans for Auckland, her main hope is that people engage with their local elections.

“There’s no point complaining about how bad things are if you’re not going to vote,” she says.

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has said he attended a concert by a German orchestra that was uninvited from a Belgian festival to show support for its Israeli conductor.

The cancellation of a planned performance at the Flanders festival Ghent by the Munich Philharmonic over concerns about its Israeli future chief conductor, Lahav Shani, has triggered a storm of criticism and accusations of antisemitism.

De Wever, who had already criticised the move, said he travelled to the German city of Essen on Saturday to “strongly condemn” the decision, and express his appreciation for Shani in person.

“There will never, ever be any room for racism and antisemitism in this country,” he wrote on X, alongside a photo of himself shaking hands with Shani in a concert hall.

“I insisted on conveying this message to him personally and expressing my appreciation for his contribution to the power of music.”

The Ghent festival organisers said this week they had decided to scrap the performance because Shani had not “unequivocally” distanced himself from Israel’s government, whose war in Gaza has triggered international uproar.

The move has drawn criticism, including from Germany and Israel.

On Friday, the Berlin Philharmonic said it had extended a short-notice invitation to the Israeli conductor to perform at a festival in the German capital next week, in what the German government described as “a wonderful sign” of support.

Shani, 36, who officially takes over as conductor of the Munich orchestra for the 2026/27 season, is currently music director of the Israel Philharmonic.

Israel launched its retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

The catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza as a result of Israel’s campaign and continuing blockade have fuelled widespread public anger in Europe, although the region’s governments have been divided on how to respond.