International student numbers soar in Brancott Estate WOW Show

A large number of international design students have been selected as finalists for this year’s Brancott Estate World of WearableArt™ (WOW) Awards Show.

Now in its 23rd year, the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show is renowned around the world for showcasing works of art designed to be worn on the human form.

Competition Director Heather Palmer attributes the surge in international student submissions to the work Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show has done to build relationships with top design schools and industry leaders overseas.

“Over the last couple of years we have visited India and China, to show these countries what an amazing opportunity WOW is for their design students,” Palmer says. “Our goal is to encourage universities and design colleges around the world to embrace the competition as a tangible project for arts and design students, and this strategy is clearly working.

“We have built a strong relationship with the Fashion Design Council of India and have worked with them to coordinate Wearable Art as a subject in their design schools,” she says. “This year 10 out of the 17 entries from India were from students, so Wearable Art clearly resonates with these talented designers.

“Meanwhile, after visiting Shanghai last year, entries from China have doubled this year,” she says. “Five of those new entries came from Donghua University (formally China Textile University), which was one of the universities we visited, so it’s great to see the promotional work we are doing paying off.”

Palmer says we will continue our overseas presence to help promote the WOW Awards Show, and New Zealand’s creative industries.

“We are planning to visit India every two years and after this year’s show we will look into further options abroad.”

At this year’s Brancott Estate WOW Awards Shows in August and September, ingenious designs will again be brought to life in a stunning choreographed performance featuring Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers.

Joining WOW Founder Suzie Moncrieff on the judging panel are New Zealand fashion designer Trelise Cooper and New Zealand artist Nigel Brown, who finished the first round of judging on June 12th. There will be two further judging rounds in August to decide the section winners and the overall Supreme winner. Winners will be announced at the show’s award night, Friday 26th August.

Highlights from the 2011 story so far…

180 finalists have entered 160 garments in the following categories:

• The Air New Zealand Kiwi Icons Section has clearly provided great inspiration to New Zealand designers, who have presented wonderful representations of Aotearoa, including; sea glass Pohutukawa; a dress constructed with footballs; an endangered bird made out of the equally endangered woollen blanket; and aluminium road signs marking our most favourite Kiwi destinations.
• Gen-i Creative Excellence Section: ‘Under The Microscope’: Designers help us discover the fascinating unseen world of millions of strange creatures that dwell under the microscope, from shapes, patterns and textures to cells, bacteria, dust mites, skin, the brain, and snowflakes.
• The Children’s Section topic this year is ‘Food’; what is good for us and what is not? Without using perishable materials, creations this year range from fairy bread, pretzels, healthy food on the run, to children’s tea parties.
• CentrePort Illumination Illusion Section is entitled ‘Surrealism’; a style where fantastical visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used, with the work being comprehensible under UV light.
• The challenge in the Man Unleashed Section was to ‘Re-Invent Or Re-Dress The Groom’. This challenge has resulted in one groom being dressed in sculptured soy milk container armour, and another groom being carried by his bride as a puppet – a mere accessory.
• The Tourism New Zealand Avant Garde Section is where art and fashion collide. These designs are revolutionary, extravagant and extroverted. The shapes this year are beautiful and eclectic, with designs made from materials such as: bird cages; aluminium tubing; and even 271 Barbie dolls.
• The American Express Open Section has no thematic boundaries, giving designers complete freedom in concept, construction and materials. Works in this section include garments made with knitting needles, folded envelopes and armour fashioned from steamer baskets.
• International entries

Fifty five out of 72 international garments were selected as finalists to appear in this year’s show.
For the first time we have had an entry from a designer from the Philippines.

International finalists include

China: 7 garments from 9 designers. Entries from China have doubled since 2010 following a trip by Suzie Moncrieff (WOW Founder) and Heather Palmer (Competition Director), to Shanghai universities. Cultural stories are interpreted in this year’s Chinese entries, with inspiration from the cocoon of a pure princess, to the battle of ancient warriors, modern interpretations on the art of simplicity and fluidity and depictions of dragons.

• India: 19 designers with 12 designs have been chosen as finalists. Ten out of 19 designers were arts and design students, who have embraced Wearable Art as a genre in developing their creativity.
• Italy: The one finalist from Italy has a garment in the Under the Microscope section called Madame Mollusca, which looks at the exo and endo skeletal forms of living organisms, and the relationship between nature and architecture.
• Canada: The one design entered from Canada cleverly depicts the skin in the Under the Microscope section.
• Netherlands: Two designers have been chosen as finalists, one in the Under the Microscope section, with a garment depicting security – how armour mutes external stimuli to provide a feeling of security. The other is in the Man Unleashed section, showing controversy or symbiosis of traditional monastery communities and the modern social digital network.
• United Kingdom: Five finalists are from the UK, presenting an amazing array of innovative designs inspired by everything from bed bugs to horses.
• Australia: a strong contingent of new and returning Australian designers entered this year, with nine garments being selected. Innovative use of materials include: milliners’ materials, felted wool and 271 Barbie dolls.
• America: 15 designers have been selected as finalists and 17 garments will appear on stage, with topics including Pretzels, the brain, a beautiful Amphitrite Queen of the Seas, and galaxies of mystery and intrigue which spiral around vixens of space.

Tickets are on sale now at worldofwearableart.com