One Tauranga finalist selected in World of WearableArt

Entries in a previous World of WearableArt competition. Photo / Supplied

One designer from the Bay of Plenty region has taken her spot among finalists from 22 countries in this year's World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards Show.

Kerry Funnell from Tauranga has been announced as a finalist for this year's competition taking place in Wellington.

The event is known to attract big numbers, with about 60,000 people expected to attend this year.

WOW competition director, Heather Palmer, said this year's finalists' work was outstanding, with the designers pushing boundaries of invention and scale, using diverse materials and progressive technology.

She said there had been a high level of experimentation and innovation by the designers this year, using materials in unexpected ways to create bizarre, edgy works of art.

Finalist designers were selected over three days of judging in Nelson, which will be followed by the next two rounds of judging in September.

A previous World of WearableArt event. Photo / Supplied

This year the 115 finalist designers were presented with six design challenges, which subsequently form the six worlds of the stage show.

Three of these worlds are recurring - Aotearoa, Avant-garde and Open, and three are new for 2019 - Mythology, Transform and White.

WOW chief executive Gisella Carr said the 2019 show had seen entrants hailing from all corners of the globe.

This year's judges included WOW founder and resident judge, Dame Suzie Moncrieff, designer James Dobson of Jimmy D, and artist Gregor Kregar.

The finalist garments will go through two more stages of the judging process, where they will be seen on stage with choreography, lighting and music ahead of opening night.

The awards season will take place at the TSB Arena in Wellington between September 26 to October 13.