Māori legend serves as inspiration for Hawke's Bay WOW garment

Keryn Whitney's 2010 WOW sustainability award winning entry titled Just Haresay. WOW rules prevent designers from sharing any details about their current garment. Photo / Supplied

Hastings woman Keryn Whitney is one of three Hawke's Bay region designers chosen as finalists for this year's World of Wearable Art (WOW) Awards Show.

Whitney is among 115 finalists from 22 countries announced for the show. This year she made her ninth garment to be accepted by the show.

She first entered the competition in 2005, and won a sustainability award for her 2010 garment titled Just Haresay constructed from both hare bones and tanned skins.

"My husband shot the hares as pest control and I had to learn a degree of taxidermy in order to render the skeletal bones white without making them brittle."

Due to WOW show rules Whitney was limited in what she could say about this year's garment.

"I would guess that there is probably over 500 hours in this entry, from initial concepts through to working patterns and constructed piece.

"This design went through several different design concepts before finally settling on the finished design. I was the only person to work on this piece."

For this year's entry she was inspired by Māori legend.

"I took my inspiration from the Māori legend of Ranginui and Papatuanuku.

"Every culture has a myth or legend to explain the creation of the world and in New Zealand we are no different.

"The garment has been constructed from a lightweight industrial carpet and synthetic felts."

Although Whitney doesn't have a single design idol, she is inspired by a fair few.

"I don't have one designer that inspires me but rather I admire a large number – Frank Lloyd Wright was an amazing architect whose designs transpose genres.

"Philip Treacy is a milliner that creates the most fantastical hats, Manolo Blahnik designs the most extraordinary footwear.

"Dale Chihuly designs incredible glass work. Not forgetting mother nature who must be noted as the most proficient and incredible designer of all."

Her own design experience is as vast and varied as the people she admires.

"I studied glass making and have nearly 20 years' experience.

"My glass work is held in private collections in Europe, USA and Australia.

"I enjoy working on WOW entries as it is generally a totally different medium and allows me to explore new materials and techniques."

This year the wearable art competition is returning for its 31st season.

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.

"It never ceases to amaze me each year the sheer brilliance of our designers' work and this year is no exception.

"There has been such 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 at the WOW Museum in Nelson.

"I now look forward to the next two rounds of judging in September when we showcase the entries individually choreographed and placed within their magical theatrical worlds on stage at the TSB Arena in Wellington, where they will take on a new life in movement."

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.

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 on September 26.

About 60,000 people are expected to attend the 2019 WOW Awards season.