Competition Rules

Entry requirements

• Designers must enter under their own names and not as a collective or a business.
• Design teams can consist of no more than three designers.
• Entrants must be 18 years of age or over at time of entry.
• No trade marks, logos or brand names can be used in an entry.

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Entry process

• Entries are to be made at www.worldofwearableart.com and in English.
• The physical garment submitted must be the same as the images in the online entry.
• All entrants must complete Step 2 (Preselection) of the entry process.

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Freighting

• Designers are responsible for all the costs of freighting their garment to and from Nelson, New Zealand, unless they are using the Mainfreight sponsored freighting option.
• Garments will be returned to the designer using the same method WOW received the garment.
• Insurance of the garment is the designer’s responsibility.
• The designer must ensure any biological material is properly declared and meets the requirements for entry into New Zealand.
• Designers must ensure any entries using animal or plant products comply with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

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Garment safety

• The garment must be safe for a model to wear and perform in.
• Models must be able to see clearly and breathe easily while wearing the garment onstage.
• Garment weight must be evenly distributed over the body and comfortable to perform in.
• WOW will not accept the following components for safety reasons; Stilts, roller skates or roller blades, any hard materials with raw, unprotected edges e.g. glass, ceramics, plastic, metal.

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Entry components

• All entries must be wearable, that is, able to be worn on the human body.
• Garments must be strong enough to withstand transportation, potentially strong choreographic movement, and being worn more than 30 times.
• Do not use perishable materials, unless properly treated, including animal products, plant products, and food. Components submitted using organic materials that may disintegrate will not be accepted.

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Garments height & width restrictions

• When worn by a model, the garment must be easily able to enter and exit the stage via a 1.5m wide, 12-degree ramp.
• Once onstage, the garment may extend or expand in size (up to 3m in length or width) but must be able to retract and exit the stage in line with the entry and exit size restrictions specified above.
• A Bizarre Bra entry must be a bra that fits the breast, not a bustier.

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Garment ownership & responsibility

• The designer retains ownership of any garment submitted to WOW (except in the case of the purchase of a garment by WOW).
• WOW is responsible for the safekeeping of a garment from the point it is received.
• WOW will not be liable for any damage or loss caused as a result of events outside its reasonable control.

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Garments acquired & held by WOW

• WOW may elect to acquire the Supreme WOW Award winning garment, Runner-up to the Supreme WOW Award and all section and other award winners as part of prize money.
• In the event the designer’s garment is selected for the WOW Show, the designer grants to WOW the right to retain the garment for up to 18 months following the show season for use in promotion of WOW.
• Each designer grants to WOW a first option to purchase any garment for inclusion in the WOW historical collection.

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Garment returns

• Entries that are not selected as finalists will be returned to designers in the same manner in which they travelled to WOW, between October-November each year.
• Finalist entries will be returned to designers in the same manner in which they travelled to WOW, between January-April with the exception of garments retained by WOW.
• International finalist entries (who sent at their own cost) will be contacted directly by end January (approximately) each year, to arrange payment for the garments return.

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Original creation

• It is a requirement that a designer’s garment is an original creation and must comply with Copyright and Trade Mark Guidelines (does not infringe, or pose a risk of infringing, the intellectual property rights of any third party).
• In the event that WOW determines that a garment does not comply at any stage in the competition process, including after the awards have been assigned, it may disqualify the designer from the WOW Awards and/or revoke any awards or prizes that may have been awarded or given in respect of the garment.

Competition Terms and Conditions