The fashion is like nothing you’d ever see on the streets of Auckland or Wellington - or even the moon - but the annual World of Wearable Art Show in Wellington, New Zealand draws entrants and interest from all over the world. Called WOW for short, it’s a showcase for up and coming fashion designers — but with a fantastic twist. My group at the Society of American Travel Writers autumn meeting in Wellington was treated to a special showing of costumes created by winners of the 2011 show and I was standing up in front shooting videos you’ll see here..
Materials used in these wearable contrivances includes books, car parts, recycled plastic bags, human hair, coins, ballet shoes and anything else the young designer could  conceive.
Some of the winners have gone on to work for WETA, producers of the notable Lord of the Rings films and the Hobbit, and for Cirque du Soleil among others. The show,  which this year is Sept. 28, awards $150,000 in prize money plus scholarships to the creative winners. The full show runs for two weeks around that date.
Meet young Claire Prebble in the second video  with this blog. She’s been entering the competition since she was just 8 when she and her mother entered The Junk Fish. Since then she’s entered WOW 15 times and became the youngest winner of the Supreme award when she was just 18 in 2004.
Claire is a New Zealander, but other entrants hail from the U.S., Australia, India, Thailand, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Fiji, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Find out how you can enter at www.worldofwearableart.com