Ashish Dhaka, a designer from the north Indian city of Gurugram, won the Natural World award at the 2024 World of Wearable Art competition in Wellington. Titled Soundscape and inspired by the resonant sounds of deep earth, Dhaka's design also won the International Design Award - Asia in the 34th season of the competition. The World of Wearable Art has been running in New Zealand for 37 years, relocating from Nelson to Wellington in 2005.
Each year, the competition includes six themed sections - or "worlds" - for designers to draw inspiration from. These typically include three recurring sections - Aotearoa, Avant-garde and Open - along with three unique themes. This year, the unique themes were Crazy Curiosities of the Creature Carnival, Natural World and Geometric Abstraction.
In 2023, the WOW show employed more than 300 people and attracted nearly 30,000 visitors to the capital. US designer Grace DuVal picked up the prestigious Supreme Award at the 2024 WOW competition with a design titled Curves Ahead , a high-visibility garment inspired by the strength and resilience demonstrated during the rebuild efforts after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. This year's theme, "Dream Awake," featured 91 finalists from 15 countries.
Indian designers have regularly featured in past WOW competitions. In 2023, Abishek Chauhan won the First-Time Entrant Award for a design titled Oizys - Goddess of Emotion . Additionally, designers Akhilesh Gupta and Dimple Gandhi took third place in the Gold.
