World of WearableArt Natural Progression by Dylan Mulder from New Zealand. Image supplied.
The celebrated World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards Show is returning to the stage from 29th September 2022. Tickets for the beloved theatrical event are on sale now with the season running until 16th October in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington at TSB Arena.
Last year, over 100 designers from 20 countries and regions around the world were selected as the finalists for the 2021 WOW Awards Show, which was unfortunately cancelled when Aotearoa returned to lockdown in August 2021, shortly before the event was due to open.
A year in the waiting, the finalists will take their incredible creations to the stage in just a few months time when our capital city hosts an audience of over 60,000 from across the country. Designers from New Zealand and across the world will compete for over $185,000 of awards and prizes that are up for grabs, across three recurring sections – Aotearoa, Avant-garde and Open – as well as three new sections in 2022 – Architecture, Elizabethan Era and Monochromatic.
This year, for it’s 32nd event WOW has upped the ante with a new cutting-edge creative vision by Executive Creative Director – Las Vegas show-maker, creative producer of America’s Got Talent, and co-executive producer of American Idol, Brian Burke – alongside Show Director New Zealand’s Malia Johnston. Each evening’s performance will feature spellbinding works of wearable art, dancers, aerialists, and foot-tapping beats created by music director Paul McLaney and composer Eden Mulholland. A digital effects team from Belgium, Drop the Spoon, will add to the spectacle of the show with exciting AV creations.
Judging for the event began in 2021 with a leading panel of experts including WOW Founder and resident judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff, designer and co-founder of Zambesi Elisabeth Findlay, and acclaimed New Zealand sculptor Jeff Thomson.
“After two difficult years of having to cancel WOW shows, we are looking forward to bringing back the magic of our theatrical event, and celebrating our amazing designers from all over the world and their incredible garments. We welcome our audiences back to Wellington and can’t wait take them on a spectacular journey of theatre, art and design,” says Dame Suzie Moncrieff.
This year’s judging panel also features Academy Award-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne as International Guest Judge, Swedish-born fashion activist and celebrity stylist, B Åkerlund as The Residency Experience Award Judge and Co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Weta Workshop, Sir Richard Taylor as Weta Workshop Emerging Designer Award Judge.
WOW Competition Director Heather Palmer says, “I have seen thousands of entries over the past 30 years, and the innovation and imagination of our designers never ceases to amaze me. Every year we see new perspectives and fresh approaches to wearable art, and just when I think I might have seen it all, a garment comes in that is completely unexpected and like nothing we’ve seen before.
“Creating an entry for WOW is a significant creative challenge for designers at the best of times but it is especially humbling to look at the work of our 2022 finalists and know about the resilience and determination that they’ve all needed to complete their works of wearable art in the midst of a pandemic.”
There are 88 finalist entries this year with some consisting of multiple garments making up over 100 individual garments that will delight audiences. Of the 2022 finalist designers, 55% are New Zealand designers and 45% are international with 20 countries and regions represented among them.
The finalist entries will go through two further stages of judging, where they are assessed on stage, before opening night of the WOW Awards Show on 29 September at TSB Arena. This will be a season of WOW that is not to be missed and as this event has enjoyed many sell-out seasons, attendees should get their tickets for 2022 quickly.
Tickets are now on sale now at worldofwearableart.com.
Lady Ethereal by Dawn Mostow and Snow Winters from United States.
FINALIST DESIGNERS
NEW ZEALAND FINALISTS
Auckland region (18 finalist designers)
Carolyn Gibson, Joelle March (two finalist designers in a design team)
Carolyn Gibson (one finalist entry in her own right)
Christopher Davis
Dinah Walker, Mark Walker (two finalist designers in a design team)
Erna Van Der Wat, Karl Van Der Wat (two finalist designers in a design team)
Ian Bernhard, Jaimie Hutton (two finalist designers in a design team)
Ian Bernhard (two finalist entries in his own right)
Jayne Boesley
Jennifer Lambert
Luiz Fernando Sereno Penna
Oliver Cain
Philippa Stichbury
Rodney Leong
Shelley Scott, Ashley Scott, Jaime Scott (three finalist designers in a design team)
Wellington region (18 finalist designers)
Allison MacKay, Gabrielle Edmonds (two finalist designers in a design team)
Fifi Colston (in a design team with Bruce Mahalski from Otago)
Jennifer Carlton
Jenny Sutton
Kelly Kim Harrouk
Liz Ritchie
Lyndal Linton, Brett Linton, Harvey Linton (three finalist designers in a design team)
Natasha Macaulay
Sharon Painter-Arps
Stephanie Cossens
Taralee Freeman, Marie Wright, Zach McDonald-Wright (three finalist designers in a design team)
Vicky Robertson, Ula Rademeyer (two finalist designers in a design team)
Vicky Robertson (one finalist entry in her own right)
Northland region (1 finalist designer)
Jackie Butterworth
Taranaki region (2 finalist designers)
Bronwyn Olley
Tracey Murphy
Waikato region (1 finalist designer)
Jill Benson
Bay of Islands region (1 finalist designer)
Lynda O’Rorke
Bay of Plenty region (5 finalist designers)
Donna Dinsdale
Janet Reid
Jo Marie Odgers
Steve Brown, Conor Brown (two finalist designers in a design team)
Hawke’s Bay region (2 finalist designers)
Anna Potton-Grapes
Kate MacKenzie
Manawatū-Whanganui region (1 finalist designer)
Jean Valentine
Nelson Tasman region (3 finalist designers)
Gill Saunders
Mary Turner
Meg Latham
Canterbury region (4 finalist designers)
Brittany Glassey
Cushla O’Connell
Janice Elliott
Vanessa-Amy Greenwood
Otago region (2 finalist designers)
Bruce Mahalski (in a design team with Fifi Colston from Wellington)
Ruth Arkless
The Messenger by Dawn Mostow and Lana Crooks from United States.
INTERNATIONAL FINALISTS
Australia (7 finalist designers)
Bethany Cordwell
Hanna Smith
R. R. Pascoe (two finalist entries)
Tara Morelos, Nelia Justo, Judit Szukacs (three finalist designers in a design team)
Tatiana Sheverda
China (4 finalist designers)
Yanlin Zhu
Sun Ye, Ma Yuru, Zhou Honglei (three finalist designers in a design team)
France (1 finalist designer)
Maria Friese
Hong Kong (2 finalist designers)
Leung Wing Tung
Lo Louise Tam
Hungary (1 finalist designer)
Anna Weszelovszky
India (2 finalist designers)
Devika Kumar
Jayati Saraf (two finalist entries)
Indonesia (1 finalist designer)
Monica Ivena
Italy (2 finalist designers)
Laura Maggioni, Giulia Bazzu (two finalist designers in a design team)
Japan (1 finalist designer)
Natsuki Hanyu
Netherlands (1 finalist designer)
Saar Snoek
Poland (2 finalist designers)
Edyta Jermacz
Nika Danielska
Romania (1 finalist designer)
Antoaneta Tica
Russian Federation (1 finalist designer)
Elena Kovalchuk
Spain (1 finalist designer)
Cecilio Castrillo (three finalist entries)
Taiwan (4 finalist designers)
Cai Min Yan, Liu Yan-Ling
Chuang Yu-Hsuan
Claire Lee
Ukraine (1 finalist designer)
Anna Zigel
United Kingdom (2 finalist designers)
Agnes Olah
Freyja Sewell
United States (10 finalist designers)
Colleen Muscha, Christina Marullo (two finalist designers in a design team)
David Walker
Dawn Mostow, Ben Gould (two finalist designers in a design team)
Julian Hartzog, Sandy Schwartz (two finalist designers in a design team)
Miodrag Guberinic
Sherri Madison
Veritée Hill
Vietnam (1 finalist designer)
Thao Nguyen
Woven In-tent by Kirsten Fletcher from Australia.
Images supplied.