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 durability, the safety and comfort of the models, and the impact of the design on the stage.[1] During the three weeks of the competition, around 60,000 people attend the event in Wellington.[1] In 2019, Sarah Foster-Sproull, was the festival's choreographer.[3] 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]

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History
WOW was founded in Nelson in 1987 by Suzie Moncrieff. It moved to Wellington in 2005 when the show 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 Hideaki Fukutake.[7]
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 up until it was closed due to pressures resulting from COVID-19 in May 2020.[8] The vehicle side of the collection remained and was reopened on the same site in August 2020 as the Nelson Classic Car Museum.[9][10][11][12] The original WOW exhibition opened in October 2001 in Nelson, New Zealand.[13]
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References
- Shaeffer, Claire B. (January 2020). "Out of This World Costumes". Threads Magazine (206): 34–39.
- "About". World of WearableArt.
- "Sarah Foster-Sproull". The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- "Covid-19: World of Wearable Art show becomes exhibit". RNZ. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- Seng, Sopheak (30 September 2022). "Jacinda Ardern makes surprise appearance at World of Wearable Art Awards 2022". Lucire. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- Rothwell, Kimberley (7 July 2013). "Suzie Moncrieff has the WoW factor". Stuff. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- Chin, André Chumko and Frances (28 November 2022). "World of WearableArt founder sells extravaganza to billionaire's son after 35 years". Stuff. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- Newman, Tim (22 May 2020). "World of WearableArt to slash two thirds of workforce". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- Newman, Tim (18 June 2020). "Nelson's classic car museum on the road to recovery with plan to reopen in larger space". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- Anderson, Charles. "WOW vows to stay in Nelson". Nelson Weekly. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- "Nelson Classic Car Museum – NCCM". Nelson Classic Car Museum. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- Newman, Tim (28 August 2020). "Nelson's Classic Car museum back up and running". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- "Museum". World of WearableArt.
External links
Media related to World of WearableArt at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to Nelson Classic Car Collection at Wikimedia Commons