World of WearableArt™

This year marks the 31st anniversary of the World of WearableArt™ (known as WOW®), New Zealand’s largest arts show. WOW® is an international design competition that attracts hundreds of entries, with an annual awards show that presents the finalist garments in a theatrical extravaganza that collides at the intersection of fashion and art. The rules of the competition encourage anything that is in any way wearable, as long as it is original, beautifully designed, and well-made, resulting in garments that are constructed from an extraordinary array of traditional and unconventional materials. The challenge: take art off the wall and adorn onto the human form. The 32 award-winning garments presented in this exhibition represent some of the most original, provocative, and unorthodox objects in the WOW Museum collection, demonstrating what designers from a wide variety of occupations can imagine when they are released from the constraints of “fashion” and are encouraged to see the human body as a blank canvas. “Think of an Alexander McQueen show meets the Nutcracker on crack and then take it up a notch.” –Huffington Post