Mantilla
A riot of colour and shape, Mantilla was created by artist and sculptor Jeff Thomson and his niece Fenella Fenton. Jeff is known as ‘The Corrugated Iron Man of Australasia’ due to his material of choice, but for this piece the pair chose to work with aluminium, which was laboriously cut to create the look of lace. It was then painted before being scrunched into a shape that could be worn around the body. It was very much a team effort, something which Jeff, who is accustomed to working solo, had to adapt to. “It isn’t always easy because you have your own ideas and you can visualise them – you give and take.” That approach worked, as Mantilla won the World of WearableArt (WOW) 2013 Open Section.
Inkling
Gillian Saunders has picked up numerous awards since she started entering WOW in 2002, and has seen her designs plastered on everything from coffee cups to buses. But it doesn’t make the design process any easier. Inkling, which won the 2013 Costume and Film Section, was the result of months of tears and heartache.
“I was so sick of it,” admits the former theatre props maker, who now works at WOW’s headquarters in Nelson as a wardrobe technician. “I just had to push through all that ‘I hate it, I hate it, I’m sick of painting, I don’t want to do this any more’. Self-motivation was key.” Gillian’s passion has seen her move into other artistic areas – she has written a children’s book inspired by one of her WOW creations.
Chrome Queen
Joanna Peacock’s work is hugely informed by her upbringing. Her parents ran a costume shop and a construction firm, so Joanna grew up sewing, building and doing demolition work. She was also encouraged to think outside the box: “My parents believed in ghosts and fantasy and really developed the imagination of my brothers and myself.” This not only led to a career as an entertainer in a performance troupe, but created a passion for costume design. The inspiration for Chrome Queen was a prehistoric earth formation near Stonehenge, England. Using this as a starting point, Joanna pledged to make something feminine, futuristic and powerful. She recalls that like many of her projects, this one was all consuming. “When I do this I can’t think about anything else… I’m totally absorbed – living it, dreaming it, waking up thinking of it.”
She Only Sees With Mirrors
Always keen to experiment, patternmaker Rodney Leong has created garments out of everything from plastic collar stiffeners to hundreds of zips. But for She Only Sees With Mirrors – inspired by a personal issue in his life – Rodney used mirrored plastic. It was cut into small diamond and triangle shapes then glued onto felt. “It’s quite an organic process,” he explains. “It’s not like I have a specific design in mind and I can’t deviate from it.” Rodney has been entering WOW since 1989, and his showstopping creations have resulted in multiple awards as well as a job offer – he worked with judge Trelise Cooper for a decade. He loves the creative outlet the competition provides. “It’s something you can pour everything into, it’s just a great journey.”
Gothic Habit
Entrants in the World of WearableArt awards come from all corners of the world and many different backgrounds – not least Lynn Christiansen. Born in Canada and now living in San Francisco, Lynn studied for a masters in business, and worked in marketing before realising her passion lay in design. Known for her edgy jewellery, which has included giant doughnut bracelets, meatball necklaces and éclair earrings, she has also made a splash at WOW – especially with Gothic Habit, which won the Open Section in 2014. Made from 2300 individually cut pieces of felt, it was inspired by Paris’ Notre Dame. “There are some years it’s a struggle to find one idea; other years I have so many, but it’s trying to streamline them,” she says. “If I want to find creative juices I go to the beach or out in nature.”
Eos: Evolution Of Spirit
Claire Prebble was just 18 when she won the WOW Supreme Award in 2004 with Eos – making the teenager from Golden Bay the youngest designer to take out the top spot. But for those who knew her, the win wasn’t unprecedented; she had been passionate about World of WearableArt since she was a five-year-old with posters of WOW garments on her bedroom walls. “It has just been part of me since I was a tiny child,” says Claire, whose mum used to enter the competition. Claire’s passion for design combined with her work ethic – she estimates she spent 1000 hours on Eos – has led to a glittering career. A former head of costume at Weta Workshop and a brand ambassador for New Balance, Claire has done editorial shoots for Vogue and created costumes for Avatar, The Hobbit and Spider-Man 2. “I really wanted to make a career out of being creative,” she says. “And there’s much more to it than just being artistic.”
Chica Under Glass
A commercial cleaner who had worked in construction and boat building, Peter Wakeman wasn’t the type of person the WOW judges expected would have made Chica Under Glass. Indeed, when his hot-pink entry in the 2013 show arrived at the World of WearableArt headquarters, competition director Heather Palmer called him to ask if he was a sculptor.
“I had to try not to laugh,” recalls Peter, who also claims he can’t draw. The father of three girls decided to enter after seeing an edgy WOW creation in Nelson Airport. It prompted him to spend seven months making Chica in the garage of his Motueka home. Using fibreglass and plywood, he recalls starting at the bottom and working up – he didn’t realise until later the base of a dress was called a hem. His hard work saw him win the Avant Garde Section and come runner-up in the Supreme Award. His success has prompted him to consider a new career. “I’d like to do this sort of stuff for a living,” he says. “I’m interested in abstract funky furniture and visual art.”
World of WearableArt: 30 designers tell their stories by Naomi Arnold. Published by Potton and Burton, $40.
