Run as a part of the town's annual blossom festival, WoolOn will this year close the festivities on October 4.
Blossom festival committee WoolOn event liaison Jill Tosswill said entries for the show had been coming in steadily for the past two months and more were expected to arrive before September.
Mrs Tosswill said despite the sharp increase in entrants, the show would run according to the same format adopted in previous years.
However, with a longer catwalk, larger audience and more models to accommodate the garments, it would be a show of a quality not before experienced in Central Otago, she said.
Festival project manager Selar Henderson, of projectExcel, said the sheer number of entries propelled the event into a completely new category.
"This is going to be a real show. We are on a whole new national level now," he said.
Sponsors had also been generous, with the Otago Daily Times Supreme Award now worth $3000.
In 2006, the show comprised 13 garments and 16 were entered last year.
To date, 53 entries had been received and more from Dunstan High School, as well as tertiary design schools in Christchurch and Dunedin, were expected. A category for young designers had been included this year, as well as one for accessories.
Mr Henderson said the proportion of textile artists, as opposed to designers, entering this year had also increased, which gave the show a special quality.
He said a target of 32 entries had been set for this year, to increase to 52 in 2009, but "we have totally eclipsed that".
Mr Henderson credited the rise of entry numbers to time and money spent on building the show's infrastructure, as well as increased marketing.
He said an advisory group made up of fashion industry experts from Invercargill and Central Otago had contributed priceless advice and ideas.
