World of Wearable Art

World of WearableArt (WOW) is an international design competition,^[1] attracting entries from more than 40 countries each year.^[2] The competition features wearable art entries, which are judged on originality and innovation, the concept, the quality of construction, health and safety for the models, and performance potential.^[3] During the three weeks of the competition, around 60,000 people attend the event in Wellington, New Zealand.^[1] The Gala show for 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19 and was replaced by an exhibit in Wellington.^[4] It returned in 2022.^[5]

Wearable art from Susan Holmes who has won 19 WOW awards.

"Traditional Progress" (2016), designed by Tsz Kwan Au of Hong Kong.

History

WOW was founded in Nelson, New Zealand, in 1987 by Suzie Moncrieff. The first show was attended by 200 people at the William Higgins Gallery. In 1990 the show moved to Trafalgar Centre,^[2] and in 2005 it moved to Wellington because it became too big to hold in Nelson.^[6] Moncrieff's sister Heather Palmer was the competition director.^[6] In 2022 Moncrieff and Palmer sold WOW to Japanese New Zealand businessman Hideaki Fukutake.^[7]

In 2019, Sarah Foster-Sproull, was the festival's choreographer.^[8] Meg Williams, formerly executive director of the New Zealand Festival of the Arts, was appointed WOW's chief executive in 2023.^[9]

Exhibition

The World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Collection exhibited garments from the World of WearableArt Awards Show, along with a collection of around 140 classic cars in Nelson, New Zealand from 2001 until it was closed due to pressures resulting from COVID-19 in May 2020.^[10][11] The vehicle side of the collection remained and was reopened on the same site in August 2020 as the Nelson Classic Car Museum.^[12][13][14]