The Lady Warrior |
This year's Supreme Award was won by Indonesian designer Rinaldy Yunardi (The Lady Warrior, pictured above).
Yunardi has entered previously. In 2017 – his first entry – he also won, taking out the Supreme Award and the Avant-garde Section with his garment, Encapsulate.
The Lady Warrior has won the Avant-garde section of the awards show. Yunardi has also managed to add an extra award, being the Asia International Design award.
For this year's entry, Yunardi was inspired by what he calls "toughest warrior of all" – Woman.
His entry incorporates the role of a daughter, a wife and a mother.
"I used various mediums of materials to represent the different elements of The Lady Warrior. Recycled paper made into rope and woven tightly together represents humanity and inner strength built from her experiences," he said.
As the supreme winner, Yunardi wins $30,000 - from a total prize pool of $180,000.
WOW founder and resident judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff said Yunardi's design "demonstrated perfect balance and form, as well as immaculate craftsmanship."
"The Lady Warrior conveys a stunning fragility which is perfectly balanced with a subtle strength. The judges particularly loved the use of traditional weaving to create a piece that is so contemporary."
In 2019, designers from 43 countries and regions entered in the hope of their garment making it
through the judging process and appearing on stage as a World of WearableArt Awards finalist.
Finalists come from an incredibly diverse range of backgrounds, professional and
non-professional, and working in the fields of fashion, art, costume and theatre, along with
students and first-time entrants.
This year the 115 finalist designers were presented with six design provocations, which
subsequently form the six worlds of the stage show. Three of these thematic worlds are
recurring - Aotearoa, Avant-garde and Open, and three are new for 2019 - Mythology,
Transform and White.
Woven In-tent by Kirsten Fletcher (Queensland, Australia) |
Moncrieff, innovative Auckland-based designer James Dobson of fashion label Jimmy D and
acclaimed multimedia sculptor Gregor Kregar. In addition, a number of awards were judged by
Sir Richard Taylor, CEO and Creative Director of Weta Workshop, B. Åkerlund, iconic fashion
activist and co-founder of The Residency Experience in Los Angeles, and Melissa Thompson,
Cirque du Soleil’s Montreal-based Creative Intelligence Team Lead + Conceptrice.
Dame Suzie Moncrieff, WOW Founder and resident judge says: “Each year we are presented
with the most extraordinary garments and each year it gets harder and harder to judge as there
are so many outstanding works.
This year has been no exception. I have been astounded by the wide range of materials used and the intricacy and originality of the designs. It is the highlight of my year and is an exhilarating and humbling experience to view this stage full of the world’s best examples of wearable art and to appreciate the immense amount of work that goes into each one of them”.
This year's WOW awards had a 108 garments enter from 115 designers across many countries. The WOW season runs from September 26 to October 13.
The Lady Warrior by Rinaldy Yunardi (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Winner: Supreme WOW Award / Winner: Avant-garde Section / Winner: International Design Award: Asia
Second: Avant-garde Section
Waka Huia |
Third: Aotearoa Section
Natural Progression by Dylan Mulder (Wellington) / Winner: Aotearoa Section /
inner: Wearable Technology Award
Kaitiaki by Lisa Vanin (Cambridge, Hamilton) / Winner: New Zealand Design Award
Second: Aotearoa Section
Chrysanthemum & Amphitrite by Jack Irving (London, United Kingdom) / Winner: Open Section
Winner: International Design Award: United Kingdom & Europe
Regnum Dei by Daniella Sasvári & Aaron La Roche (Upper Hutt, Wellington) / Second: Open Section
Collide-o-Scope by Vicky Robertson (Newtown, Wellington) / Third: Open Section
Gemini: The twins |
Huaxia Totem by Sun Ye, Miao Yuxin & Yuan Jue (Shanghai, China) / Winner: White Section
Winner: Weta Workshop Emerging Designer Award / The Blomar by Akhilesh Gupta (Bangalore, India) / Second: White Section
Enlightened by Michelle Wade (New South Wales, Australia) & Adam Wade (Hawke’s Bay,
New Zealand) / Third: White Section
Infini-D by Tara Morelos, Ahmad Mollahassani & Nelia Justo (Sydney, Australia)
Third: Transform Section
Sea Urchin Explosion by Jack Irving (London, United Kingdom) / Winner: Cirque du Soleil Invited Artisan Award / Winner: Transform Section
Dress Up Dolls by Meg Latham (Motueka, Nelson) / Second: Transform Section
Banshee of the Bike Lane |
Soul Guardian by Chang Yi-Wei (New Taipei City, Taiwan) / Second: Mythology Section
The Moirai - the Shape of Us by Tina Hutchison-Thomas (St Albans, Christchurch) / Third: Mythology Section
Wrath of Medusa by Edyta Jermacz (Suchy Las, Poland) / Winner: First-time Entrant Award
Walk All Over Me by Louise Dyhrfort (London, United Kingdom) / Winner: Student Innovation Award
Engolfed by Leanne Day (Papakura, Auckland) / Winner: Sustainability Award
https://www.worldofwearableart.com/