Rickie Dee of Superette

Rickie Dee by Tom Roberton

It’s hard to believe now but it used to be that if you didn’t travel across the ditch very often it was almost impossible to get your hands on an original LBD from Claude Maus or a pair of skinny stonewash jeans from Sass and Bide. But thanks to the vision of two young friends nine years ago, Superette was born and Auckland hasn’t been the same since. The clothing and accessories boutique first opened in 2001 behind Victoria Park Market and housed not just the best of the best from Australia (and some local and other international brands) but included a delightful coffee shop too. It was a revolution in thinking around how customers experience fashion, retail and design and while the old Vic Market site is now gone, Superette has since opened stores in Ponsonby, Newmarket, Wellington and online as well as publishing a fashion-drenched in-store magazine.

Rickie Dee is one-half of the expanding fashion empire (her business partner is James Rigden) and manages to run the Superette juggernaut with her two-year-old son Rocco in tow and another one on the way.

“I don’t know how it’s going to work with two but it always works out in the end, I mean I like to be busy so you get through it in the end,” she says with typical levelheadedness.

Her partner Onny Kaulima keeps busy too, running fashion blog theworldatyourfeat.com in between his full-time job as the New Zealand Sales Rep for DC shoes. Together they strike a fine balance between work and family life – Onny’s parents help with childcare and they make sure to take a break every now and then. In fact, Rickie’s favourite place to sip cocktails is Bali, although it’ll be a little while until her next one.

“This time I know what nine months without drinking is like, so it’s going a lot faster than the first pregnancy.”

Favourite Stolen Rum cocktail: Stolen Mojito.

www.superette.co.nz