WOW in Wellington is one of the highlights in New Zealand’s national cultural calendar – Image: WOW (Straw-ry Eyed, Entry from Bethany Cordwell, Australia)
WOW – a dazzling show of wearable art, light and music is currently being presented in New Zealand’s capital. The 2025 World of Wearable Art Show called RISE runs until 5 October at Wellington’s TSB Arena. At the weekend, Dawn Mostow and Ben Gould from the United States have been named winners of this year’s Supreme WOW Award. Mostow and Gould receive WOW’s ultimate accolade for their work Tsukumogami, a tribute in latex to Japanese classical ceramics and the mythology of objects.
It is the first Supreme WOW Award for Mostow and Gould, who have been regular finalists since 2017. In that time, Dawn has achieved eight finalist entries, five of them created in collaboration with Ben, collecting multiple awards. Runner-up to the Supreme WOW Award was 30-time WOW finalist Wellingtonian Fifi Colston with her garment Meine Erste Liebe.
This year’s Supreme WOW Award winner was selected from 85 finalist entries created by 100 designers from 17 countries. They competed for a prize pool of over $200,000, across 25 awards.
Supreme WOW Award winner Tsukumogami is an intricate latex re-imagining of two centuries-old blue ceramic vases imbued with live spirit, crowned by blue and white ikebana flower sculptures.
The WOW Competition judges described it as a blend of past and future, “…radically innovative and future forward, while at the same time paying exquisite homage to centuries-old artistic and cultural traditions. A work that captivates the eye and refuses to let it go.”
The idea for the entry came to Mostow and Gould, partners in creativity and life, from Dawn’s time living in Japan. The team was inspired by the Japanese belief that objects can be imbued with spirit after centuries of use and were fascinated by the Japanese practice of kintsugi; repairing broken ceramics with golden seams to create objects with greater value than the original.
Supreme WOW Award winner Tsukumogami is an intricate latex re-imagining of two centuries-old blue ceramic vases – Image: WOW 25/Andi Crown
“Extraordinary level of creativity”
WOW Head of Competition Sarah Nathan says there was again an extraordinary level of creativity and technical skills evident in the finalist garments. “As well as many familiar faces, this year we’ve welcomed back incredible designers returning after long absences, alongside first-time entrants achieving brilliant results. It’s exciting to see the wearable artform continue to thrive, grow and push boundaries across craft, storytelling and materials.”
The 2025 WOW Competition judging panel comprised WOW Founder and Resident Judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff; ceramic sculptor Virginia Leonard; and artist and fashion designer Lindah Lepou. The judges said the WOW Competition’s class of 2025 has been breathtaking.
”Up close, the intricacy and beauty is off-the-scale. You can feel the thought, the labour, and the heart behind every detail. There’s been exceptionally diverse storytelling across all entries, and the 2025 competition has proven again that WOW is a global reflection of humanity through the eyes of incredible artists.”
Runner Up “Meine erste Liebe”
Supreme WOW Award Runner Up Fifi Colston’s Meine Erste Liebe – her 30th garment to appear on the WOW stage – was inspired by the tragic love story of a nineteenth century German botanical artist and his wife. Colston has said publicly that this will be her last WOW entry, closing the curtain on a WOW career that has seen her creations a constant feature of the annual WOW Show since 1990.
Runner Up “Meine erste Liebe” from Fifi Colston: “A work that takes your breath away” – Image: WOW 25
The judges described Colston’s garment as “a work that takes your breath away. A living archive of hundreds of years of artistic technique and a divinely composed ode to love, loss and art.”
In addition to the Supreme WOW Award and Runner-up, the WOW Competition comprises six sections and eleven special awards.
The Wētā Workshop Award for Outstanding Design, judged by Wētā Workshop founder and CEO Sir Richard Taylor was won by Cantabrian Cushla O’Connell, for her garment Worn Landscape that features a landscape image made from over 6,000 up-cycled buttons. Cushla’s garment also placed first in the Aotearoa section. Sir Richard Taylor says Worn Landscape is “imbued with the spirit of a Hayao Miyazaki inspired world”.
“This beautifully eccentric and exquisitely fabricated wearable artwork is a joy to behold and a wonder to witness.”
People’s Choice Award in early October
The Dame Suzie Moncrieff Award – awarded by WOW Founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff to the garment that best embodies the spirit of WOW – this year went to Ōtaki designer Jan Kerr for her garment Beeing Mary Bumby, a celebration of New Zealand’s earliest bee-keeper.
Dame Suzie described Beeing Mary Bumby as “a treasure trove of unpredictable delights and depths. It has exceptional attention to detail – from the reverence of a gilded carriage for a regal queen bee and a tribute cameo of Mary herself, to the realities of filth born from working on the land.”
The inaugural Te Tohu Toi Rākei – a new WOW Competition award recognising and celebrating excellence in Māori art, craft and design when translated into a work of wearable art – was awarded to Anna Hayes-Moeau (Ngati Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) for her work Ko au ko Harakeke, Ko Harakeke ko au.
The WOW People’s Choice Award will be announced in early October – Image: WOW 25 (Entry: First Light by Lyndal Linton, Brett Linton & Harvey Linton, New Zealand)
Te Tohu Toi Rākei judges Karl Chitham (Te Uriroroi and Ngā Puhi) and Isaac Te Awa (Ngāpuhi, Kāti Māmoe, Kai Tahu, Waitaha) commented that the entry stood out for “elevating traditional materials and techniques with exquisite attention to detail”.
“The incorporation of whakapapa and pūrākau transforms the work from something familiar to something extraordinary.”
The Tall Poppy Real Estate People’s Choice Award is open for audiences to vote throughout the season and will be announced early October.
The New Zealand 2025 WOW Show: RISE runs until 5 October at Wellington’s TSB Arena. Tickets are still available at www.worldofwearableart.com.
(NAN/WOW 22-09-25)
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