Profile
Stacy Gregg
We love Stacy and thought you would too... she’s one woman that really embodies the Max spirit.
In one sentence introduce yourself:
I’m a fashion editor who started her own website, runwayreporter.com and now I write Pony Club Secrets, a fiction series for 8-12 year olds. I’m in transition from super-fierce fashionista to affable children’s author.
Where’s home:
In Point Chevalier. Before we moved in, the house used to be Western Springs Football club – it was a soccer clubrooms which doubled as an unoffical pub. A series of soccer club working bees had made it a décor nightmare, which meant that we moved in and spent the next ten years renovating.
What’s your biggest project going on now?
Stacygregg.co.uk – the new website to go with the Pony Club Secrets series.
Where’s your favourite place in New Zealand?
Gisborne. We’ve been going there for summer holidays forever. My best friend from boarding school is from Gisborne and she moved back there recently to take over Café Ruba. Gisborne is like 1970s NZ used to be – except with good coffee – and Wainui is one of the world’s best beaches.
What’s your favourite tipple?
Why? Are you buying? If so, then a glass of Veuve Clicquot would be lovely thanks! Failing that, a nice sav blanc, rose or pinot noir will do.
Who inspired/or continues to inspire you most in your life?
Michael
What’s the latest thing downloaded to your iPod?
Kate Nash – I have a thing for introspective whingers from Lily Allen to Tori Amos and Kate Bush.
What’s your biggest weakness?
Pointless googling.
If you weren’t doing what you are doing now you’d...
...be grooming Gandalf for Mark Todd at the Hong Kong Olympics (in my dreams!).
What books have you been recommending lately?
Pony Club Secrets – obviously! The third book in the series, Destiny and the Wild Horses, is out now. Because I don’t want to be influenced, I try to avoid reading other children’s authors. Adult fiction is okay, but non-fiction is safest. I just finished Piers Morgan’s biography, The Insider – I know it is two years old now but it doesn’t matter, it’s still funny. Right now I’m reading Things I Didn’t Know, the autobiography of Time Magazine art critic Robert Hughes. It’s frightfully clever and I’m just dying to get up to the chapter where his wife sleeps with Jimi Hendrix.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Completing a perfect canter transition on my horse.
What is your greatest fear?
Loss.
Which living person do you most admire?
A toss-up between Olympic equestrian Blyth Tait and Nicholas Ghesquiere who designs for Balenciaga.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Again, a toss up: this time between my Prada shoes and my Albion dressage saddle.
What is your favourite journey?
Business class to anywhere.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My daughter, Isadora.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My weight – pathetic but true!
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I’ve had a couple of good years – I sold my website to a multi-national media company and I got an eight book deal with a major UK publishing house – both of those make me pretty happy.
What is your most treasured possession?
My PowerBook G4. I’ve written all my novels on it and it’s travelled everywhere with me. I’ve filed stories from the Paris Collections, reported from London Fashion Week – it’s a bit battered now but I can’t upgrade because it has sentimental value.
Who are your favourite writers?
Emily Bronte, Harper Lee, Martin Amis, JD Salinger, Thomas McGuane, Donna Tartt, Emily Perkins.
Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I am a total acolyte of Joss Whedon who wrote the TV series – I love his dialogue and characters. If I lived in L.A. I would totally stalk him.
Who are your heroes in real life?
I’m too cynical to have heroes in real life – fiction suits me so much better.
Thanks Stacy, we have dedicated two garments from Winter 08 in honour of you! The Isadora rouched dress comes in grey and will be in-store on 29 April. The Stacy Big Buttoned Shawl Collar Cardi comes in black & charcoal and will be in-store 13 May.