Napier designer Laurel Judd is again a World of Wearable Arts 2024 finalist. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
Napier designer Laurel Judd is again a World of Wearable Arts 2024 finalist. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
A former PE teacher turned knitwear designer and fibre artist has made a name for herself in Hawke’s Bay with the made-to-fit knitwear she used to sell from her at-home retail store, Laurel Dzigna Knitz...and for her four finals spots in the World of Wearable Arts competition.
During a school holiday in the 70′s and looking for something to do, Napier’s Laurel Judd decided she wanted a knitting machine.
Judd explained that at this time, people could walk into a shop, watch a knitting machine demonstration, and take one home.
The next day, an employee from the store came to Judd’s house in Taradale to set up the machine and give her a lesson.
“By the end of the holidays, I’d made three or four jerseys, and I was struck,” Judd said.
After making pieces for her family and friends and helping her school’s kapa haka group with their uniforms, Judd left the teaching profession and became a fulltime knitwear designer, creating special pieces for retail outlets and galleries.
While creating and selling knitwear has been Judd’s bread and butter, she said her hobby, creating wearable art pieces and fibre art, has been what she has really loved.
Wool has been the designer’s preferred material for a long time, and because she uses New Zealand wool, she feels like she’s doing the country a favour by advertising it in a different way.
“Some of them [Judd’s designs] range from 75% wool, 80% wool, so you can use other fibres or yarns to embroider or embellish, which is something I really like doing,” Judd said.
Judd’s fibre art has taken her all over the world, including fashion shows and events in Australia, Canada, Los Angeles, Texas and more.
“It’s opened me up to the world, really, and it was much easier than teaching teenagers,” she said.
Through her art, the designer has made friends in different corners of the world, which she said has been really nice.
Already a three-time World of Wearable Arts finalist, Judd said making the finals for the fourth time “is every bit as exciting as the first time”.
With hundreds of entries each year coming from across the globe, previous finalists are not guaranteed to make it to the finals again.
“I don’t think a lot of people realise how many entries there are and that this year there were entries from 35 countries and entries from 15 of those countries got into the finals,” Judd said.
She added, “People say to me, ' Oh, you’ve been in before, you’re given, but that’s not what it’s like.’”
The designer said she knew a Hawke’s Bay designer who had won the supreme award at WOW and then missed out on the finals the following year.
WOW finalist designs are judged blindly. The judging panel doesn’t know who’s made anything, and the last judging takes place a few days before the show.
When asked what the most exciting part of WOW is, Judd said, “Just being there.”
This year the Napier designer has decided to bring her family along, including her husband, two children and their partners and some friends who will be sitting close by.
Judd is excited to celebrate and said, “We’re in the designer section, and that’s neat because someone wins, and there’s a roar of applause, It’s a really neat atmosphere.”
While WOW is about showcasing all the wearable art designs, Judd said, “It’s about more than just being in the show.”
The day before the show, all the finalists get together for WOW’s “Designer Day”, where designers from across the world can meet each other and talk about their experiences and crafts.
“It’s amazing how many designers from different countries arrive for WOW,” Judd said.
She added, “I sat next to a Japanese girl, and she virtually didn’t speak any English.
“She was 20, and she’d come all the way by herself without speaking English - that would’ve been hard for her.”
The Napier designer said that just soaking up the atmosphere in Wellington and at WOW makes her feel like she’s won.
Now all that’s left for Judd to do in preparation for the big day is finish her outfit to wear to the WOW show, which she has made out of wool, felt and fibre, sticking to her roots.
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing at the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with NZME for almost three years and has a strong focus on what’s going on in communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffares@nzme.co.nz
