When the World of Wearable Arts show is in town we like to join the festivities by handing over our shop windows to students from Wellington High School and Queen Margaret College. The year 13 fashion and materials technology students display their own striking wearable art creations as part of their course.

We give the students a theme for their designs. This year, Samara, Isabella, and Eloise’s brief was the elements – earth, sea, and sky. The results are stunning, and you can have a closer look at them in our store windows throughout the duration of WOW (21 Sep – 8 Oct).

‘Volcanic’ by Samara Harvey Lawn

My interpretation of the earth theme is inspired by the eruptive and dramatic contrasts of moving volcanic earth, molten lava, and the cooling crust. This is shown through the colours and textures in my design.

The elegantly dramatic sculptural bodice which I shaped and carved from clay was inspired by a plate in the Te Papa ceramics collection.

The skirt’s volcanic texture was created by heat manipulating hundreds of plastic shopping bags used en masse for visual effect.

The molten lava element is created by stitching circular shapes through layers of different textile fabrics and then heat manipulating for a distressed effect.

‘Double Denim’ by Isabella Moon

My interest in sustainable practices inspired the use of discarded denim jeans as my project material.

My interpretation of the sea theme was firstly inspired by the blue colour of the denim and by looking at the movement of the waves.

The sculptural form of my design was inspired by a ceramic bowl in Te Papa’s collections and Avant Garde fashion styling.

The sculptural circular waves on my garment were created by piecing together layers of cut denim jeans and firm interfacings. These were hand attached to the garment using split pins as rivets.

Gathered paper doilies, another frequently disgraded material, were used to create a delicate seafoam visual effect.

‘Cicada Queen’ by Eloise Dash

My design is influenced by the native New Zealand cicada, found in Te Papa’s online collection, and as well as New Zealand’s amazing views of the sky in the land of the long white cloud.

The skeleton of the cicada inspired the design for the shapes of the skirt and the overall shape of the fitted outfit, and the cicada’s wings inspired the wings on the garment. The wings are made out of chicken wire making them moldable to any shape.

The use of the white on dark blue fabric is to imitate the stars.

The skirt of the outfit has been made to imitate the tail end of the cicada with it tapering off in the front and back.

The layers of the skirt were made from recycled plastic bags which I ironed and melted together to create a unique textile element.

A huge thank you to the Te Papa store for this amazing opportunity, as well as my school, friends, and family for their support.