Museum director David Clarke said all but three of the pieces designed by Wakatipu residents for the fledgling Arrowtown Autumn Festival sellout show - now in its second year - had been loaned to the museum for the exhibition, which will run for two weeks.
Tickets to the show are in big demand, with both the 2010 and 2011 shows selling out, so Mr Clarke approached festival organiser Deborah Husheer about using the costumes in an exhibition.
"The show sold out in a flash ... so we thought they could come and get to see it up close.
"It's going to be nice for people to get up close and realise what goes into it."
A variety of materials has been used in the construction of the outfits. One dress is made from condoms, others with sanitary pads, canvas, wool or papier mache. One Japanese-inspired outfit features 1000 origami cranes.
"Finding mannequins was a bit of a struggle, but we put an ad out and people have been so generous.
"There's a lot of work in trying to make wearable art look any good without it being on people, but it's actually coming together quite well."
Mr Clarke said Ann Bain had been working extremely hard setting up the exhibition, which featured photographs of the outfits being modelled during this year's Art 2 Wear and comment from each designer about their inspirations.
One of the outfits which had not made the exhibition "fell to pieces", while another was not being included for practical reasons.
"One was in body paint and he wasn't going to stand there for two weeks."
Mr Clarke said while early indications suggested Art 2 Wear could run over two nights in 2012, it was hoped the exhibition would become an annual event.
