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Chinese designers wow at NZ's World of WearableArts

Tuesday 2 October 2012, 2:07PM

By 100% Pure New Zealand

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Delight of Light by Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu (Shanghai, China) – 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Supreme award
Delight of Light by Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu (Shanghai, China) – 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Supreme award Credit: World of Wearable Art
Revive by Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu (Shanghai, China) – 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Runnerup Supreme award
Revive by Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu (Shanghai, China) – 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Runnerup Supreme award Credit: World of Wearable Art

A talented young Shanghai-based design duo has scooped four top awards - supreme, supreme runner-up, and two section awards - in New Zealand’s 2012 Brancott Estate World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards Show.

It is the first time the same designers have won so many awards in one show, and the winners will be taking home NZ$42,000 in prizes.

Friday night’s (28.09.2012) awards ceremony in Wellington saw 37 designers from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Taiwan, USA and New Zealand presented with awards, and another 11 designers achieving an ‘honorable mention’.

WOW Supreme Award
First-time entrants Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu - from Donghua University, Shangahi - pulled off an amazing double with their entries - Brancott Estate WOW Supreme award winner Delight of Light and Supreme Runner Up Revive. These garments also won top placing in their relevant sections.

World of WearableArt founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff - the creative force behind one of the world’s quirkiest and spectacular art events - said it was an exceptional result, and the first time in the show’s 24-year history that the same designers had won four top awards in the same year.

"During the WOW judging process, we are only told the entry’s name and its inspiration, so we were very surprised when we found out that Yuru and Mengyue were the designers for both the Supreme Winner and Runner Up," Dame Suzie said.

"It is an extraordinary accomplishment, especially when it is their first time entering WOW. Their talent is astounding, and I am confident they will be designers to look out for in the future."

The winners described Delight of Light as inspired by architecture and featuring a tough silhouette, streamlined detail and an aura of mystery.

Aspiring designers
Fellow Shanghai students Tao Wang and Ying Zhang also collaborated on more than one garment. Their Legend of Darkness was runner-up in the Wellington International Award, and Floating received an Honourable Mention in the Tourism New Zealand Avant Garde section.

Dame Suzie attributes the Chinese fashion design students’ interest to promotional visits she made with WOW competition director Heather Palmer to their university to showcase the competition and WearableArt as a tangible project for aspiring designers.

"Developing good relationships with design, art and fashion students, and showing them how WOW can help launch their careers, is an important strategy for WOW," she said.

"Many tertiary students who have entered WOW in the past have gone on to work in the film and fashion industries. WOW gives them an opportunity to step outside of the normal commercial constraints and to push the boundaries of their art."

Sell-out season
WOW is New Zealand’s single largest arts show, and the 12-show season is an annual sell out with an audience of nearly 50,000 for the lively two-hour extravaganza of art, theatre, dance, music and show-stopping sculptural design.

Dame Suzie Moncrieff created the WOW concept in 1987 to challenge designers to take "art off the wall and onto the human form".

The awards have earned an international following among established and aspiring artists and designers as a showcase for artworks that can be worn on the human body.

WOW gives designers the opportunity to be innovative and original, while not being bound by the constraints of commercialism. The only limit is imagination.

The parade of often outrageous artistic fantasies is woven into a powerful visual and aural story. This year’s grand finale has been inspired by Sci-Fi, Flash Gordon, Barbarella and humorous B-grade 60’s and 70’s movies.

2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards
The 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards featured 164 garments by 168 designers. International designs received 16 of the 35 awards, and New Zealand designers won 19 awards.

An inherent understanding of design and craftsmanship, and quality execution were hallmarks of the winning entries, Dame Suzie said.

"The 2012 winners have shown outstanding artistic brilliance in creating original and innovative works," she said.

Snapshot of 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards:

WOW Supreme Award

  • Winner - Delight of Light, Yuru Ma & Mengyue Wu (Shanghai, China)
  • Runner Up - Revive, Mengyue Wu & Yuru Ma ( Shanghai, China)

American Express Open Section

  • First - Delight of Light, Yuru Ma & Mengyue Wu ( Shanghai)
  • Second - Totally Sheepish, Sarah Peacock (NZ)

Tourism New Zealand Avant Garde Section

  • First - Revive, Mengyue Wu & Yuru Ma ( Shanghai, China)
  • Second - In the Op, Ling Lai Kit Ling (Hong Kong)

Mainfreight Duffy Books Children’s Section

  • First - Spider Feast, Chan See Lik & Chan Yuet Foot (Hong Kong)
  • Second - The Mummy & My Mummy, Ya Ting Yang (Taiwan)

Air New Zealand South Pacific Section

  • First - Marquise Rawahi, Beatrice Carlson (NZ)
  • Second - Harpagornis, Jan Ubels (NZ)

CentrePort Illumination Illusion Section

  • First - Shanachie for Lost Bird, Jo Drysdall (NZ)
  • Second - Laser GaGa, Janice Elliot (NZ)

Gen-i Creative Excellence Section: Theme ‘Visual Symphony’

  • First - Shaker Suit, Erica Gray (Australia)
  • Second - Bells for her, Sean Purucker (USA)

WOW & Classic Car Museum Bizarre Bra Section

  • First - Epicentre Divas, Claire Third (NZ)
  • Second - Two Barb Bra, With Love, Sue Newby & Bruce Haliday (NZ)

Booker Spalding First Time Entrant Award

  • First - La Danse Macabre, Mercy Brewer (NZ)
  • Second - Lunar Duo, Denise Laurie (NZ)

WOW Factor Award

  • First - Noor Reverie, Rebecca Maxwell (NZ)
  • Second - The Glamour Card by Jaswant Daranga & Nilmani Kumar (India)

Weta Award

  • First - Velociraptor! , Milada Adams (Australia)
  • Second - aBRAcalypse Now, Wendy Moyer (Mexico)

Wellington International Award

  • First - Beast in the Beauty, David Walker (USA)
  • Second - Legend of Darkness, Ying Zhang and Tao Wang (China)

Shell Student Innovation Award

  • First - Rise from the Ruins, Nicole Linnell (NZ)
  • Second - My Maria, Caitlin Brogan (NZ)

Shell Sustainability Award

  • First - City Lolita, Deborah Shepherd (NZ)
  • Second - VCR, Christopher Davis (NZ)

More information

Brancott Estate World of WearableArt Awards

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgIpinhqn4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_XOOVuDpEc