WearableArt founder awarded honorary doctorate
World of WearableArt (WOW) founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Massey University for
her contribution to the public in the field of art and design.
Dame Suzie will be conferred a Doctor of Fine Arts on May 29 at this year’s Wellington graduation ceremony for graduates
from the College of Creative Arts.
In 1987 Dame Suzie founded and became the driving force of WOW, an instantly recogniseable acronym that is synonymous
with innovative off-the-wall art and design interpretations.
The World of WearableArt Awards has grown from a largely community effort, taking art off the wall and placed it on the
human body in extravagant and orginal ways, to become an international showcase which last year attracted more than half
its entries from intyernational designers from countries such as
Taiwan to the Netherlands.
“In the early days I had no idea that it [WOW] would grow to the extent it has,” Dame Suzie says.
College Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Claire Robinson says Dame Suzie’s nomination recognises her outstanding service to
arts in New Zealand, her contribution to the economy and the country’s international reputation as well as her ongoing
support of creative programmes at Massey University during its heritage year.
“Dame Suzie has been a friend and mentor to creative arts education at Massey for many years. [Among its many
contributions] World of WearableArt have sponsored an educational exchange for Massey fashion students with the San
Francisco Academy of Art University.”
Head of Fashion at the School of Design, Sue Prescott, says Dame Suzie’s support saw a specific category created within
the WOW awards to showcase design students and help boost their visibilty to the wider design industry.
“This has enabled students to push boundaries and produce work of a cross-disciplinary nature in an environment that
also showcases practising and professional artists and designers.”
She and Professor Robinson note that Massey students have won top awards at the
shows, including Supreme Award winner Nadine Jaggi in 2008, Luka Mues and Loren
Shields in 2010, Katie Collier and Sophie Littin in 2011 and the 2012 WOW Factor Award winner Rebecca Maxwell who
featured throughout the 2013 WOW promotion campaign.
Dame Suzie says in terms of its design influence WOW’s reach is spread globally with regular workshops taught at schools
and universities, previously unfamiliar with the WearableArt concept, from the UK, India, China and the United States.
“What the teachers at these institutions love about WOW is that it encourages the students to be innovative and
original.”
It’s a message Dame Suzie plans to impart in an acceptance speech she will deliver once she is conferred with her
doctorate.
“I want to tell the gradates to follow their dreams; against the odds, I have been lucky enough to see my own dreams
come to fruition and WOW grow into what it is today.”
Ends