fashion: behind the scenes

Three more years

Jack Yan flies to Blenheim for lunch—and gets to check out some of the award winners from the Montana World of Wearable Art Awards
photographed by Frank Gasteiger

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY that Montana Wines shouts you a trip to Blenheim, to its flagship Brancott Winery, for a special announcement concerning the World of Wearable Art Awards (WOW).

After supporting the Awards for 10 years, Montana’s chief winemaker, Jeff Clarke, told Lucire that the arrangement would be extended for another three.

Clarke and founder–creative director of WOW, Suzie Moncrieff, signed the agreement in front of journalists and several models in earlier WOW costumes.

Designs ranging from This Is Not a Booby by Jo Torr—a brassière consisting of a bird on each breast—to Tracey Smith’s La Topiarina, essentially an outfit where the wearer was encased in foot-to-toe greenery (‘Leafing so soon?’ we asked, as the model went to change) were modelled at the event.

It’s not just the event that gets support: Moncrieff told the audience that Wellington, where the Awards have been held since 2005, benefits to the tune of NZ$8 million each year.

For us in the press, the lunch that Montana provided, with a delicious beef fillet, was among the best we’ve sampled in this hemisphere, complemented by the winery’s Terroir sauvignon blanc, or the Terraces pinot noir 2004.

Clarke took the opportunity to talk up the company’s new Montana chardonnay pinot noir brut cuvée.

During lunch, more outfits were shown, including the challenging Dragon Fish, by Susan Holmes, who took home the 1996 Supreme Award with this design. The model had to bend slightly to give the proper effect of a human-size dragonfish.

Our only regret was having to depart for our Wellington flight, ferried back to the airport by Fay of Marlborough Travel, leaving our colleagues from other centres to enjoy Montana’s company for a few extra hours.

The 2007 Montana World of Wearable Art Awards take place at the TSB Arena in Wellington from September 20 to 30. Tickets are on sale now at www.worldofwearableart.com. •

It’s not just the event that gets support: Moncrieff told the audience that Wellington, where the Awards have been held since 2005, benefits to the tune of NZ$8 million each year