A group of Waihī College students took the stage by storm at the Toi wearable art competition in Tauranga last month.
The competition is part of Showquest, which is a nationwide performing arts platform for schools, and runs in collaboration with the World of Wearable Art.
The Waihī College student designers who competed are: Kate Townsend, Aysheia Domasing, Izzie Cannell, Abi-Mae McHardy, Kyle Sorley, Yukumi Kato, Amy Harris, Zoe-Beth Naisby, Bella Paulsen and Leslie Brillantes.
A few awards were snapped up by Zoe-Beth, who was awarded best use of recycled materials for her garment Recycled Romance, before also taking out the overall prize for the senior division as Star of the Night. Recycled Romance was based on a rose in its fully blossomed state, she said.
It was made out of recycled aluminum lunch containers, which were shaped and painted to create a petal effect.
Zoe-Beth said she was most proud of the fact that she repurposed more than 200 lunch containers and “gave them a new life”.
Meanwhile, Kyle was awarded excellence in garment construction for his Steampunk Astronaut, which he said was based in the year 3024: “where the whole world is a wasteland”. He was “going for a vibe” of the suit being constantly patched up with anything he could find, Kyle said.
“I love detailing,” he said, and added that he made the buttons out of clay, and even fired and painted them himself.
Waihī College visual art teacher Paige Kingston said it was rewarding to see the students’ work exhibited on stage in front of 1200 people.
“We watched from the audience and hearing the cheers from the crowd was awesome.”
Students Bayley Goddard, Erana Keelan and Ruby Welhelmi also went along as helpers and models for their peers.
