After 13 weeks of designing and creating by 46 dedicated and talented students,  twelve sensational Wearable Arts garments took to the stage at the Town Hall on June 21st as part of Show Quest. Toi, as the Wearable Arts section is known, has grown over the last few years from an initial 300 garments from around New Zealand, to this years biggest number of entries at 540.

During the last 13 weeks students collaborated together, to firstly decide on a design and then to figure out how to make it. Deciding on how their designs would be made was no easy feat as each garment had to be able to be worn multiple times, be able to be taken on and off, of course look fantastic on stage, and had to portray a story. Luckily many of the Year 8 students had experience from the year before and were able to help those new to Wearable Arts with ideas and tips.  

Problem solving occurred every session as ideas failed, stretching groups to think again and try something new. There has been much laughter over the failures, successes and mistakes. Students learnt how to deal with frustration, to show mountains of perseverance, and to work together as a team. Each session ended with a flurry of cleaning and figuring out what the next session's goal was going to be.

On the night Bedlam Beast: The Night Terror won Star of the Night with their monsters under the bed garment. Elodie’s shocked and scared face sold the costume to the judges and audience alike.They also won a Creative Storytelling award. Their elaborate design and excellent construction did them proud.

The Quacken gave everyone a giggle. Based on the Cracken, this all boys group garment reflected their great sense of humour, their problem solving skills and their ability to work together as a group. They also won an award for Creative Storytelling and one for Excellent Garment Construction.

Stella stole the stage in From What Remains . Her robot dance was impressive, extra so if you have any idea how heavy their garment was, and how tricky it was side stage to plug the lights in in the dark, and get them going seconds before she walked on stage. Their Outstanding Stage Presence award was well deserved.

Antarctica Tragedy’s Best Use of Innovative Materials award highlighted the array of different materials skillfully put together to portray the plight we are facing in our Antarctic region. The moving whale was cleverly constructed and Kahlia made it look easy on stage. 

Let it Bee and Anyone Can Bloom were truly beautiful with their colour palettes and all the small details in their designs. Both won awards for Excellent Garment Construction. These two groups were great examples of successful teamwork, encouraging each other and working with individual strengths in groups. Perseverance and teamwork  was key in the success of both these groups .

Disaster of Oz and Our NZ Legend, Hilary and His Journey both won Creative Storytelling . Their focus on what they wanted to say was evident in the design of both garments. These two groups were the ‘quiet ones’ during Wearable Arts, steadily working away whenever they had spare minutes due to the very large degree of sewing in both their garments that required a lot of patience!

Zoe took There is No Planet B to the stage with confidence and determination that we need to continue to keep working on our impact on the world, gaining them an Outstanding Stage Presence Award. The skills and learning  Zoe, Katelyn and Grace took from last year's entry could be seen in the quality and finish of this year's garment.

Dreaming Your Couture, could not be missed. This bold and beautiful design stood out. Parts of it looked like it had been bought even though it wasn’t. Learning how to sew a pair of pants was not originally on the agenda but when you can’t find what you want, you do what you have to!

Cosmic Custodian shone with its glitter finish and stunning colour combination. Every detail had been thought of from the head to the feet! The skirt the girls designed, made a pattern for,  and then sewed was outstanding, as was their problem solving skills. 

The pulsing heart of the Anubis garment was lifelike. This group  portrayed the story of the Egyptian God of death majestically with its striking black and gold. The working crocodile mouth was cleverly constructed. 

We are super proud of all our students who entered Wearable Arts. Through your creativity, hard work, positive attitudes and perseverance you all created incredible garments to be proud of. We now eagerly await for the results of the National Judging, due out next term. 

60 garments from around New Zealand were selected to go through to the finals that will be judged by Dame Suzy Moncrieff, the original founder of WOW and Heather Palmer, present director of WOW. Huge congratulations to the Breen’s garments below hat made it through to the finals.

Bedlam Beast:The Night Terror

Our NZ Legend, Hilary and his Journey

The Quacken

Antarctic Tragedy

Anyone Can Bloom

Disaster of Oz

Dreaming Your Couture

Let it Bee

There is No Planet B

Cosmic Custodian 

From What Remains