World of Wearable Art, Design competition venue in Nelson, New Zealand
World of Wearable Art is a museum in Nelson, New Zealand, whose collection pairs garments from the annual WOW competition with around 140 classic cars. The wearable-art pieces are sculptural constructions worn on stage, and one display case holds a large geometric costume built from translucent faceted panels in green, yellow, red and orange, mounted on a light stand before black text panels. The case stands on reddish-brown brick paving beneath white columns and angled roof beams carrying "World of Wearable Art" and "TSB" banners.
WOW began in 1987 as the World of Wearable Arts Awards, founded in Nelson by sculptor Suzie Moncrieff; the first show at the William Higgins Gallery drew 200 people. The show moved to the Trafalgar Centre in 1990 and to Wellington in 2005, when Nelson could no longer hold it. The museum combining garments with around 140 classic cars opened in October 2001 and closed in May 2020; the cars reopened as the Nelson Classic Car Museum.
Participants from many countries submit pieces made from unusual materials like paper, metal, or natural objects. The result sits somewhere between fashion, sculpture, and stage performance, and is hard to place in any single category.
The wearable-art museum in Nelson closed in May 2020 because of COVID-19 pressures; the car side reopened on the same site in August 2020 as the Nelson Classic Car Museum, holding around 140 vehicles. The annual show runs about two and a half weeks at the TSB Arena on Wellington's waterfront, with the 2026 edition at the end of September. Entries open in November and close in February.
Each piece in the competition is judged not only as a static object but also on how it moves and transforms on stage under lights. Seeing a piece still in a display case and then watching it move on stage can feel like looking at two completely different works.
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