The third edition of Fiordland’s Wearable Arts Show was held at the Fiordland Events Centre on Saturday; "Metal Madness" was the theme for three categories — Molten, Bra/Crop Top and Open.
Event organiser Angela James said 12 designers showcased their garments for a sold-out crowd of 200 people.
"It was a really amazing night with designers coming from across the region. We had one come down from Christchurch, a couple from Gore, Invercargill and places in between."
A fan of the World of WearableArt (WOW) in Wellington, James said the Fiordland Performing Arts Charitable Trust decided to create the event in Te Anau to inspire artists throughout the region.
"We wanted to add some creativity and opportunity for our local community to get creative and do something that was slightly different from what we have down here and so we came up with doing a wearable art show.
"We thought ‘Well, we’ll do it for a couple of years and see how it goes’ — and it’s actually just been really well received by locals and the community."
She said the event aspired to be a stepping stone for WOW but with fewer pressures.
"I guess that’s what it’s turned into. It gives people an opportunity to create something themselves, not having that same restrictive requirement that WOW does because we do know about what it takes to actually get an entry into WOW.
"So this is just a stepping stone to see people’s creativity and enjoy something different that people get to work on and I think the community and the region really enjoys seeing it."
This year the winner of the show was local Sally Thompson Shaw with her design Born to Be Wild.
James said she was impressed by the quality of the entries and said the judges had a hard time choosing the winner.
"The ones we had last year were amazing, but this year we had outstanding quality.
"I think the vision and the understanding of wearable art is really starting to show now on how to create that."
While the event was a success, the trust decided to hold the next edition of the event in 2026.
In its place, next year, would be a "fashion show through the ages of costumes and garments".
