WOW trip 2019

My 11^th year as a World of WearableArt finalist has concluded, after yet another whirlwind week in Wellington, New Zealand. It was, as usual, fantastic weather, enabling the revisiting of favourite haunts, and an exhausting but wonderful catch-up with designers old and new.

Arriving early Tuesday morning, I had my first ever coffee at a pub for brunch, and it was great! I spent the afternoon climbing the hills of Wellington in search of the famous moggy Mittens, but to no avail.  

I have seen many photos of Mittens here, but no luck today.

Great view from the uni!

On Wednesday, we were picked up by Vicky and Fifi before collecting Anna from the station, for a trip out to the famed Pete’s Emporium, where we teamed up with Keryn. OMG. I would have to go to at least 8 shops to see the range of strange, crafty and well-priced things there! Each aisle elicited shrieks of disbelief. 

Fifi found a cat mask...

In the evening, we met up with the gang at The Foxglove for drinks before the Preview show, ready to devour the WOW programme, which we couldn’t access until then! It was great to meet up with Janet de Boer, Peter, and Susan Holmes – a NZ WOW legend – amongst others. The show itself left us a little perplexed, and not a little depressed. I’ll warn you now – I am giving my honest, unbiased, but experienced opinion, which through sharing in conversation, I found many

others agreed with. Whereas other WOW shows have taken us on a journey surging through different emotions, this definitely felt monotone, and although much of the especially commissioned music was fantastic, there was a lack of emotional dynamic throughout.  Similarly, the stage atmosphere matched the dark tone, with dark lighting, and there was a serious lack of fun! I’ll admit that I didn’t enjoy the Preview much, however I had a much better experience at the Awards Night, when I just stared at the rotating stage directly in front of me, and drank in every bit of every garment.
Saw a great exhibition at the Wellington Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Gloriously Eclectic - I believe this is the work of Jan McLean.

Thursday was Designer Day, beginning in the usual fashion, with myself skulling a Maccas coffee outside the venue, before ponying up to be peoply! Bless the brave poppet first-time NZ designer Autumn Minnear who identified me as a designer and just rocked right on up to say hello during my humanisation process!

Breakfast at the InterContinental was followed by a backstage tour and a presentation from show director Andy Packer, who admitted to having a bit of a dark aesthetic. It was interesting to hear him say that the performance was all about showcasing the garments, when in fact it seemed to be the opposite to many audience members.

The morning was rounded out with an interview and a demonstration from B. Ackerlund from The Residency, NY. OK. So, full disclosure here – I don’t do mainstream, I can’t stand ‘celebrity culture’ (oxymoron) and I’d never heard of her before. Apparently a stylist of Madonna, Beyonce etc. Maybe I might sound a bit pretentious if I say I consider myself to be more of an artist than a costumier? The work, not who’s wearing it, is what means the most to me. Her demonstration of dressing a live model in plastic bags and fluffing them up with a leaf-blower was probably not as enlightening as she might have thought it would be. Don’t we all go crazy on a mannequin with whatever when working out design ideas? No? Just me?!!

After lunch we were taken to WETA workshops, where we saw a make-up transformation, and visited the amazing miniature sets of the Thunderbirds. Finally, we were delivered to the classic Roxy Cinema for some fabulous smokin’ cocktails and noms! The party kept going on our return to the CBD, with a gathering at our beloved AVIDA tapas bar, with magnificent host Stephen. Although exhausted and completely peopled out, a few Spanish wines and my beloved Goats Cheese Puffs got me back on track!

Friday morning we were off to the Australian Embassy for brunch and a designer panel discussion, but with no Esmé to wrangle us, there was a little confusion ie. leaving Janet de Boer, Susan Holmes and R.R. Pascoe, guest speaker, at the hotel! It’s a great format which makes sense of the event, connecting students, designers, and all attendees. I was thrilled upon arrival to recognise NZ journalist Zoe George, having met her there a few years ago, so immediately plonked myself down next to her and representatives of her old high school!

Back in town, I had an interview and photoshoot at The Foxglove with the delightful Tom from @lovewelly – such a sweetie – it felt more like making a new friend than anything! Matt needs serious training as an Instagram/Facebook husband, as no photos were taken of this event…

After a little much-needed down time, it was off to meet Beatrice Carlson and Belinda Cook at Les Saigon for dinner before the show. Having ordered, I suddenly realised that we did not have our tickets, so went back to the hotel. After much searching, I was relieved to find them in Matt’s jacket from the Wednesday night!! Phew!!! As previously mentioned, the show was much more enjoyable for me as I was able to completely focus on the garments. It was pretty stress-free, not having any hopes of placing within my section. However, when the Sustainability Award and International Australia/South Pacific Awards passed me by, I felt a little clenching in my gut…. There were a few things that grated on me during the Awards ceremony – the fact that 3 or 4  awards were given to one designer in quite a few cases seemed a little bit much – however, I was thrilled to see that ALL award winners went on stage to receive their awards!! I was somewhat disappointed to see some very familiar shapes and techniques on stage – although the judging panel changes every year, surely Dame Suzie Moncrieff, as the resident judge, must use her vast knowledge and educate guest judges on previous appearances? Wouldn’t it be helpful if WOW had an on-line library of the past 30 years of entries? Oh wait, what, have I said that before?! Another point which has been niggling for years and very much rode to the top of the pile this year, was the ever-widening gap between artisans like myself, and those who have a small army working on their behalf. How can the lounge room sewers, skilled as they are, compete with those who have an entire atelier making their design come to life? It just doesn’t seem to be a level playing field at all. One great suggestion I heard was for an ‘Artisan’ award – whereas digital technology has its own award, how about honouring the skills of the hand crafter, keeping old skills alive?

We danced until after 1am, before trying to find our way home. Unfortunately we missed curfew and were unable to access the lift home, so ended up climbing the Plimmer Steps and becoming lost, only to catch a taxi around the corner in desperation! Matt’s calves have still not forgiven me. The final designer function of Saturday morning brunch was nice, but just a little much for those of us old moles who are hearing impaired in crowds – I could hardly wait to leave and hit the real function, the chill-as Matt & Svenja Afterparty Bitchfest at Mac’s Brewery. Beers, no-holds barred discussions – the frankest moments of the whole week! We did ourselves proud, lasting until the early afternoon, before retiring to the hotel with some early nomszzzzzzzz.

Beautiful colours in the harbour

Now we’re home (home is so good) and preparing for the December residency on King Island. Although I had my piece half-constructed for WOW next year, in the Aotearoa section, it really does seem right now to pull the pin, and I have already mentally transformed it into a wall-piece…. So now I just have to finish my work for paperonskin, and then it’s full-steam ahead… to wherever.