Grace DuVal has taken out the Supreme WOW Award with Curves Ahead - a garment made from reflective construction signs and a striking road-cone headpiece.
DuVal says her inspiration for Curves Ahead was witnessing the strength and resilience of the rebuild efforts following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquakes on a road trip around Aotearoa several years ago.
The hand-sculpted garment - which is made from vinyl road signs and held together with 3D-printed components - reflects the juxtaposition DuVal observed between natural landscapes and the neon signage and garb of Kiwi road crews.
It is topped with a headpiece made from road cones.
Photo: Andi Crown Photography
On the Curves Ahead skirt, she added plastic mesh and barrier fencing to create a ruffle "of celebration".
"Curves Ahead promises a colourful future beyond devastation and leads the charge to rebuild what once was and what is yet to be," says DuVal, who has a Masters in Fashion, Body and Garment from Chicago's School of the Art Institute.
"Curves Ahead is visually electrifying, vividly beautiful and a cohesive, compelling concept. It commands your attention, and up close you observe the phenomenal technical skill involved in bringing it to being," the 2024 WOW judges said.
WOW's class of '24 made the judges' task very difficult, head of competition Sarah Nathan said, with finalists demonstrating phenomenal quality of construction and concept in their creations.
"Finalist garments in the 2024 WOW Competition are not only a feast for the eyes but each comes with fascinating narrative and inspiration. Love was an overwhelming theme this year - love for whānau, love for the planet, aroha for Aotearoa, love for diversity and acceptance, aroha for tīpuna and even for love lost.
"The unbridled imagination of designers who breathe garments to life with exacting skill and ingenuity never fails to inspire us."
Crazy Curiosities of the Creature Carnival award winner, GiGi the Wyrm of Spinelesque, by Sean Purucker & Tony Rivas, United States. Photo: Stephen A'Court
Wellington designer Katherine Bertram won The Wētā Workshop Emerging Designer Award with her garment Termite Cathedral while Kāpiti Coast designer Rebecca Bond's Changing Perceptions won the Transformation Innovation Award.
The Absolutely Positively Wellington International Awards went to Ece Özalp of Turkey (UK & Europe), Jill Perry of Australia (Australia & Pacific), Ashish Dhaka of India (Asia) and Sean Purucker and Tony Rivas of the United States (Americas), who also took out the Overall International Design Award.
Termite Cathedral by Katherine Bertram won the Wētā Workshop Emerging Designer Award at the 2024 World of Wearable Art awards. Photo: Stephen A'Court
The Tall Poppy People's Choice Award is open for audiences to vote throughout the season and will be announced mid-October.
This year's 2024 WOW Show Dream Awake runs until 13 October at Wellington's TSB Arena.
Check out the full list of 2024 WOW winners here.
He art, by Xuancheng Liu & Jingyi Lin, China, was runner up in the Supreme WOW Award and won the Open section at the 2024 World of Wearable Art Awards. Photo: Stephen A'Court
Related: