Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show Finalists Chosen
Media release from WOW Ltd
Brancott Estate WOW
Awards Show Finalists Chosen for
2012
Brancott Estate WOW
Awards Show Finalists Chosen for 2012
In an intensive
weekend of judging, three Brancott Estate World of
WearableArt Awards Show judges have agreed on the finalists
for the 2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show from 327
entries.
The Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show is
now in its 24th year and is New Zealand’s single largest
arts show, with more than 50,000 show goers from around the
world attending every year. In a breathtaking two-hour
spectacular of art, theatre, dance, and music, incredible
designs are brought to life. This year’s Brancott
Estate WOW show season in Wellington runs from 27th
September to 7th October.
This last weekend (7/8 July),
at WOW’s Nelson headquarters, guest judges, Auckland
artist Gregor Kregar and Christchurch fashion designer
Takaaki Sakaguchi, joined WOW Founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff
to scrutinise the 327 garments entered into the 2012 show.
The finalists have now been chosen, and the designers will
be notified of their garment’s success next week. Then
there will be two further judging rounds to decide the
section winners and the overall Supreme winner.
Competition Director Heather Palmers says it has been a fantastic weekend of judging.
“The Avant Garde and Open Sections are probably our strongest sections this year – certainly our biggest - and the South Pacific section is just beautiful,” Palmer says. “There are definitely standouts in every category, with designers being inventive and incredibly clever with new technology.
“There were 327 garments to judge on the weekend, and we had a team of 40 people at WOW on both days of judging, with each person given a role to play,” she says. “The judging process is now a well-oiled and experienced machine. Personally, I have been involved in every judging weekend since WOW started, as have many others who were here on the weekend.
“Even some of the models have modelled for the judges, and in the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show itself, for five or more years,” Palmer says. “These experienced WOW models came to Nelson for the weekend, and with full hair and make-up done, they presented the garments in the best way possible for the judges.”
Dame Suzie says the garments entered this year are “brilliant”.
“Once again I am impressed by the talent of the designers who have entered WOW from all over the world, and I would like to thank all of them for their incredible hard work,” says Moncrieff. “I am now really looking forward to working with these garments in the performance aspect of the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show.”
Guest judge Gregor Kregar says judging weekend was amazing and he was thrilled to be involved.
“The WOW experience over the last two days has been very stimulating,” Kregar says. “It is fantastic to see the interesting use of materials so close up. As a sculptor, my work is multi-disciplinary and I like to use different materials, so I can relate very well to many of the WOW garments. They are all inspiring, but I am also impressed at the obvious standouts in each category.”
Fellow guest judge Takaaki Sakaguchi says one of the key things he was looking for was “something new”.
“As Gregor has said, the WOW garments are all amazing, but we were especially looking for new ideas compared to other years,” Sakaguchi says. “The standout pieces for me did exactly that – they were inspired by a new idea and then merged brilliantly with different materials and textures. It has been fascinating to see all the WOW garments so intimately, and to hear the stories of each design’s inspiration.”
The 2012
Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show includes the following
section categories:
The
Tourism New Zealand Avant Garde Section this year
is the largest section. Avant Garde is
where art and fashion collide! Designers
are asked to create a wearable work of art that is
revolutionary, extravagant and extrovert, but still stylish
and made with skill. Designers are driven by dreams and
fantasies, not commercial reality or the usual restrictions
of fashion.
The American Express Open
Section is also substantial this year. This section
has no thematic boundaries, giving designers complete
freedom in concept, construction and materials. This
section encourages a high degree of originality and
innovation.
The Gen-i Creative Excellence
Section’s theme this year is Visual Symphony.
Designers were asked to design a work of art that
makes sound. Now that the finalists have been chosen, each
piece will be choreographed to a music score composed
especially for this section. Each garment will have its
moment within the music score on the stage, which will be
microphoned to amplify the garments sound, e.g. the garment
becomes an instrument/sound within the music composition
creating an interesting soundscape.
The
Children's Section theme this year is “Conceal and
Reveal”. Designers were asked to create a garment
of anything they wanted as long as it transformed with an
element of surprise.
2012 is the alternate year
of The Bizarre Bra® Section. Though normally
hidden, the bra has shown itself in past Brancott
Estate WOW Awards Shows to provide highly creative and
witty reinventions, and this year is no
different.
The Air New Zealand South Pacific
Section is a beautiful section. Designers have
gathered inspiration from New Zealand’s rich Maori culture
or other cultures of our South Pacific neighbours. Garments
celebrate what it is like to live in New Zealand and the
South Pacific – the sea, beach, flora, fauna, birds,
insects and the wide and wonderful personalities of our
unique cultures.
The CentrePort Illumination
Illusion Section has no thematic boundaries, giving
the designer complete freedom of concept to create a work of
art in another dimension that glows under ultra violet
light.
- ends -
For further information, including
releases and imagery from previous shows, please go to the
online media room at www.worldofwearableart.com
EDITORIAL
NOTE: Please initially refer to the show as the Brancott
Estate World of WearableArt Awards Show, which can then
be shortened to the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show.
Please publish the full names for sections and awards i.e.
the Air New Zealand South Pacific
Section.