World of Wearable Art

World of WearableArt (WOW) is an international design competition, attracting entries from more than 40 countries each year. The competition features wearable art entries, which are judged on durability, the safety and comfort of the models, and the impact of the design on the stage. During the three weeks of the competition, around 60,000 people attend the event in Wellington. The Gala show for 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19 and was replaced by an exhibit in Wellington. It returned in 2022.

History
WOW was founded in Nelson in 1987 by Suzie Moncrieff. The first show was attended by 200 people at the William Higgins Gallery. In 1990 the show moved to Trafalgar Centre, and in 2005 it moved to Wellington because the show became too big to hold in Nelson. Moncrieff's sister Heather Palmer was the competition director. In 2022 Moncrieff and Palmer sold WOW to Hideaki Fukutake.

In 2019, Sarah Foster-Sproull, was the festival's choreographer. Meg Williams, formerly executive director of the New Zealand Festival of the Arts, was appointed WOW's chief executive in 2023.

Exhibition
The World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Collection exhibited garments from the World of WearableArt Awards Show, along with a collection of around 140 classic cars up until it was closed due to pressures resulting from COVID-19 in May 2020. The vehicle side of the collection remained and was reopened on the same site in August 2020 as the Nelson Classic Car Museum. The original WOW exhibition opened in October 2001 in Nelson, New Zealand.