World of Wearable Art- WOW, a New Zealand Icon

Back in 1987 Nelson sculptor and artist, Suzie Moncrieff, wanted to promote a small art gallery in rural Nelson at the top of the South Island New Zealand.  She came up with an original concept of taking art out from galleries and displaying it on the human body. In doing so she created the entirely new genre of wearable art, an art which combines design, art, movement and drama, performed as a show supported by state of the art stage lighting and technology. World of Wearable Art was born.

A bit of Street Art outside the venue

The first performance, held at a small rural venue in Nelson, attracted around 200 people and was an instant success. Over the years its fame grew, becoming more and more popular, to the point that Nelson could no longer cater for the crowds wanting to attend.  In 2005 the show was moved to Wellington to take advantage of a larger venue, a bigger population and to be more accessible for the people who fly in from all over New Zealand and the world to attend. It now attracts an audience of around 50,000. In 1999 WOW won New Zealand's Supreme Tourism Award. Suzie Moncrieff was awarded the honour of Officer of the New Zealand order of Merit in 1998 and made a Dame Companion in 2012.

Today World of Wearable Art attracts work from designers all over the world.  From around 300 entries the best 170 make it to the stage with 400 people involved in the show's production. This year categories included Aotearoa, Avante-garde, Science Fiction, Red and Illumination. Winners from these and other categories shared a prize pool of $170,000  and offers of scholarships with companies such as Cirque du Soleil and Weta Workshops, founded by Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor of Lord of the Rings fame.

And the stage is set

I had been to WOW about 4 years ago and was gobsmacked by it.  I had never seen anything like it before. It is spectacular, awe inspiring, fun, mind blowing, colourful and intriguing. The imagination of the designers, and their precision in creating the garments, takes your breath away. If you have never been, I suggest it is a 'must do'. 

Last week my daughter-in-law and I flew to Wellington especially to see this year's WOW.   It was Jane's first time at WOW, and she had the same reactions as I'd had and I was no less amazed this second time round.   As we walked back to our hotel, along a calm and star lit waterfront, my daughter-in-law was very quiet then, after a while, she said she was simply stunned at the spectacle and creativity of it all.

This short clip, made a few years ago, is well worth watching. It gives you a small glimpse at the wonder of WOW and describes it so much better than I could.