An evening rich in creativity: The 2022 Wearable Arts Show

Families, friends and teachers packed Elliot Hall for the return of the College Wearable Arts Show recently after a two-year pandemic hiatus meant a show without a live audience in 2020 and a cancellation in 2021.

As the lights dimmed, the stage came alive, with audiences treated to an evening of creative pieces of art featuring 111 designers and models supported by 34 dancers and dance leaders.

Year-on-year we have been privileged to have television personality Wendy Meyer as our emcee for the evening and Kiri Whitford-Joynt from ‘id with Style’ as choreographer and deportment coach, helping student models through their paces on the catwalk and making last minute touches to their costumes.

The evening showcased garment designs from five different categories: Science Fiction, Kiwiana/Pasifika, Much to Sew, Sustainability and Illumination. Our dance students, led by one of our College Dance teachers Ichiro Harada, choreographed routines to support each section of the showcase. The combination of fashion and dance, as we have done in previous years, made the overall production a captivating and entertaining experience.

The exceptional range of garments on display was awe-inspiring, with each of the finalists receiving continuous applause from the audience as they made a final round down the runway.

This year’s Wearable Arts Show, which is in its 10th year, welcomed returning judge Belinda Watt, Whitecliffe’s Head of School, Fashion and Sustainability, along with Liz Farr, the Programme Leader at Whitecliffe and Rod Stratton, Saint Kentigern College’s Head of Faculty for Creative Arts.

These judges looked for creativity, originality, zest and innovation. They had the unenviable task of evaluating how well each garment represented the chosen category, and the overall presentation and construction of the design.

Well done to all our finalists, in particular to model and designer Mackenzie Alley for winning the Senior Supreme Award, model and designer Amelia Evangelidakis for achieving the Year 9–10 Supreme Award and to model Evalyn Penney and her team of designers Chloe van Schalkwyk and Talia Yuan for taking the Year 7–8 Supreme Award.