Competition Rules

Entry requirements

• Enter under your own name, not as a collective or business.
• A design team may have up to three designers.
• You must be at least 18 years old by 26 February 2027.
• You must legally own the garment.
• Your garment and all its components must be physically real and complete when you enter online. Entry photos and videos must show it worn by a real person, without material enhancement using AI or design tools.

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Entry process

• Complete every step of the online entry process.
• Enter at www.worldofwearableart.com, mainly in English.
• The physical garment must match your submitted entry photos.
• Only send your garment to WOW™ after it has passed Preliminary Selection.
• WOW™ provides all models for judging and performances.

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Original creation

• Your entry must be an original creation and must not infringe anyone else’s intellectual property rights. See the Copyright and Trade Mark Guidelines.
• Do not use obvious or dominant trade marks, logos or brand names in your entry.
• Your entry must have been completed within the last five years.
• If your garment was previously entered but not selected, you may re-enter it once, with improvements and a written explanation.
• You may enter a garment that has been shown in another competition.
• Do not enter the same or a similar garment in WOW™ and another competition in the same year.
• You should not publicly promote your WOW™ garment by sharing images or videos of it before the day of the Awards Ceremony.

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Entry components

• An entry may be designed for up to three models..
• Every entry must be wearable on the human body.
• Your garment must be strong enough to withstand transport, potentially vigorous choreography, and more than 30 wearings.
• Do not use perishable materials, including animal products, plant products or food, unless they have been properly treated

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Animal and plant matter

• Do not use real animal fur, wild animal skins or wild bird feathers.
• If you use animal or plant products, your entry must comply with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
• All biological material must meet New Zealand’s import requirements.

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2027 Child Section

• The 2027 Child Section is for garments designed for children to wear. Garments must have themes appropriate for children and be physically comfortable for a child aged 6–12 years.
• Entries must be made by adults over 18.
• For Preliminary Selection, submit photos of the garment worn by a child model. These photos are for internal use only. WOW will not publish them, display them publicly or share them outside the Competition process.

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Garment safety

• Your garment must be safe and comfortable for a model to wear and perform in repeatedly, including during sometimes vigorous movement.
• Distribute the garment’s weight evenly over the body so it is comfortable to perform in.
• Models must be able to see clearly and breathe easily while wearing the garment onstage.
• For safety reasons, WOW will not accept lasers, stilts, roller skates, roller blades, or hard materials with raw, unprotected edges, such as unfinished glass, ceramics, plastic or metal.
• Electronics must be safe and reliable for use in New Zealand. Consider having them checked before sending your garment.

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Garment height & width restrictions

• You may request inclusive model specifications.
• When worn by a model, your garment must be able to enter and exit the stage easily via a ramp that is 1.5m wide with a 12-degree slope.
• Your garment may extend or expand onstage, but it must retract to meet the entry and exit restrictions above.

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Garment ownership and responsibility

• You keep ownership of your garment unless WOW purchases it.
• WOW is responsible for keeping your garment safe from the time it is received.
• WOW is not liable for damage or loss caused by events outside its reasonable control.

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Freighting

• You must pay all freight costs to and from Wellington, New Zealand, unless Mainfreight sponsored freighting covers part or all of the journey.
• Your garment will be returned by the same method and to the same location from which you sent it to WOW. You must pay for any changes.
• You must properly declare any biological material and ensure it meets New Zealand’s entry requirements. You are responsible for customs, biological declarations and any fees.
• To use Mainfreight sponsored freighting, you must meet the 2027 requirements and criteria on the WOW™ Sending Your Garment webpage. These include location, box size, entry drop-off and booking.
• Garments sent using Mainfreight sponsored freighting will return to the same depot, with two exceptions. Chicago: garments sent from the USA Chicago depot will return to the LA depot. You must arrange and pay for delivery from LA to your home. Taiwan: one-way freight from Taipei, Taiwan, to New Zealand is available with a one-off fee of USD 250. You must pay for return freight to Taiwan.

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Garment returns

• Entries not selected as finalists will be returned between October and November each year, using the same method by which they were sent to WOW.
• Finalist entries will be returned between January and April, using the same method by which they were sent to WOW, unless WOW retains them.
• If you are an international finalist who paid to send your garment, WOW will contact you directly by approximately the end of January each year to arrange payment for its return.

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Garments acquired and held by WOW

• WOW will choose to acquire the Supreme WOW Award-winning garment as part of the prize money.
• WOW may, at its discretion, propose a three-year loan of other Finalist garments.
• If your garment is selected for the WOW Show, you grant WOW the right to keep it for up to 18 months after the show season.

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General rules

• WOW™ is a peaceful celebration of creativity through wearable art. At any stage of the Competition, WOW™ may disqualify or withdraw a designer or entry that WOW™ determines poses a reputational, safety, security or other risk to the Competition, Show or Organisation.
• If WOW determines that a garment does not comply at any stage of the competition process—even after awards have been assigned—it may disqualify the designer from the WOW Awards and/or revoke any awards or prizes given for that garment.
• Decisions made by the Judges and/or WOW™ are final. Designers cannot challenge them.

Competition Terms and Conditions