Entries are open for the North Canterbury Wearable Arts Show 2026 and this year the theme embraces Head to Toe.

Organisers are looking for designs from adults in the Open, Cosmic Couture, and Bewildering Bra categories.

For the 9 year to 13 designers, they can create wearable arts embracing Cyber Organics, while for the Year 7-8 group, their challenge is Post Apocalyptic couture.

Singing in the Rain is the challenge for designers in the Year 1 to 6 category.

Hoping to be at the forefront of creative couture again this year is Hawarden designer Susan Gunn.

She first entered the competition back in 2013 when she achieved a second place award and says she was bitten by the bug of creating wearable art, winning several more categories over the years.

She has competed in the last four shows when organisers moved it to an annual show.

“I’ve always been into art. I love to sew things and I used to make outfits for themed events for my work as a therapist, just to liven the place up and I did a little bit of costuming for various theatre groups – it brings all my art practices together.”

She says this year it’s a song that serves as her inspiration.

“I heard it and thought – yeah I could make a costume around that.

“Sometimes while visiting op shops around the district, I’ll see something and think- I've got an idea for that, and then it just builds as I find other materials to include in it.

"It’s great for designers of all ages to enter as it’s fun looking for materials to use in the categories.

"t’s incredible looking at what children have put together. It’s mind blowing what they achieve.”

The North Canterbury Wearable Arts began as a fundraiser for the Oxford Area School in 2010 as the Oxford’s Wearable Arts.
The show proved a great success, filling the local GP hall to capacity and became a major event to attend in Oxford’s calendar.

It survived the earthquake and pandemic, and continues to draw some amazing creators of wearable art costumes from the Waimakariri and North Canterbury districts.

In 2019 the show moved from Oxford to the Rangiora Town Hall, and changed its name to the North Canterbury Wearable Arts to make it more accessible to the wider Canterbury community.

Then in 2023 organisers found a superb venue in the Rangiora Baptist Church Auditorium where they were able to have a stage with a wrap-around audience.

The North Canterbury Wearable Arts Show 2026 will be held at 7pm on Saturday, September 12, at the Rangiora Baptist Church Auditorium.

Tickets available through Humanitix or the ncwa.nz/ website.