2021 Creative Campaign: Woven In-tent

Each year people will see a unique set of finalist garments from that year’s Competition come to life on stage, created by designers who have set their imaginations free and pushed themselves to explore new creative possibilities.

The WOW Competition is the world’s leading wearable art competition and invites entrants from across the globe to create a work of wearable art that will come to life in a bespoke theatrical spectacular in Wellington.

"The WOW Show is a theatre of many layers with big dance performances, amazing sets, inspiring lighting and musical soundtrack. It is an emotional rollercoaster that continues to be full of surprises and showcases extraordinary art-inspired garments from all over the world," says Dame Suzie Moncrieff, WOW Founder.

World of WearableArt brings people together; designers and creatives, friends, family and loved ones; from all walks of life, from all corners of the world. We aim to reflect this sentiment throughout our creative work. Our latest campaign, released with the launch of the 2021 WOW Competition on July 1, features the 2019 award-winning garment Woven In-tent upon a woven tapestry backdrop; marrying design, innovation and creativity and focusing on what is at the heart of WOW, the incredible works of art from around the world that are entered into the Competition.

Creating a Whole New World

The campaign has been dreamed up and developed by creative agency Cato Brand Partners and is inspired by the nuances, intricacies and craftsmanship of the garment, creating a distinctively unique world.

"Working with World of WearableArt provides a unique opportunity to push boundaries and embrace the unusual. It has been a highlight over the last three years for Cato Brand Partners to have the ability to explore the rich, surreal and whimsical worlds of WOW and create a campaign like no other. Working with such an open and creative group of people who embrace the design process is a fantastic foundation for us to continue to wow, WOW." Says Cato Brand Partner.

Creativity Inspiring Creativity

Kirsten Fletcher is an Australian designer from Queensland who has a wealth of experience working across the costume and high-end fashion industries in Australia and the United Kingdom. Her work has appeared in many feature films working alongside the likes of high-profile costume and production teams at Pinewood Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, and others.

Kirsten first entered the WOW Competition in 2013 with a garment called Venus Anadyomene, which won Honourable Mention in the South Pacific Section. In the consecutive years Kirsten created entries A Cut in Time (2014 Avant-garde Section Finalist) and Flow of Creation (2015 Open Section Third). Her 2019 entry Woven In-tent is made up of two garments and is a labour of love that she spent eight years exploring, designing and creating.

Woven In-tent was inspired by Kirsten’s experience at music festivals and realising the issue around festivalgoers simply abandoning their tents as they leave the festival. In asking herself the question ‘what is it that we value in a material?’ Kirsten set to collecting these tents, piles of discarded waste, from music festivals she attended over three years.

Created by stripping the tents into strands that could then be hand-pleated and woven, Kirsten used sustainable cane and tamed it into a symmetrical form representing the structure, lines and form of the typical camping tent.

"I knew from the moment that I left Glastonbury music festival I was compelled to create and to bring awareness to this disturbing issue around the abandoning of tents post-festival. I collected over 500 tents, experimenting extensively with the difficult fabric. With each strip painstakingly pleated by hand, the garments have been woven with the utmost care and in-tent." Says Kirsten Fletcher.

This once abandoned and discarded material suddenly became something with a beautiful lustre and a new life whilst bringing awareness to our modern consumerist dilemma.