Garment years in the making will finally be seen at Ag Art Wear show
A garment that has taken years to make will finally be seen on the runway at this year’s Ag Art Wear show. Kelsey Wilkie discovers why it took so long for the garment to be showcased.
First time Ag Art entrant, Mallonae Garton lives on a beef and dairy farm in Doubtless Bay and is happy this is the year her garment will be shown on the runway during Fieldays.
“I’ve always wanted to do it. We don’t come down every year because we live in the far north but every couple of years we come down and I always go and look at the show,” says Garton.
Leggy models draped in fibre, fur or fencing wire strut around on stage. They showcase the best agricultural art made for the body by artists from New Zealand and Australia.
There will be six shows at Mystery Creek during Fieldays in June, followed by a gala dinner where awards will be given to the top designs from each of the categories.
“I started making (the garment) a few years ago. I owned a business up here in Kaitaia and I was always too busy and would just put it aside.”
After selling her business she thought “what the hell” and decided to finish her garment and enter this year.
Garton speaks of her garment with pride and astonishment. “It’s quite an elegant sort of outfit,” she says. “I was very pleased with the finished article.”
The black, red and white dress resembles a leather ball-gown. The matching hat could be a fascinator worn to the races, fountain-like spikes fan around the hat.
Meanwhile, the Fieldays Ag Art Wear event is gearing up to be a showstopper.
With garments named ‘Barking Mad’, ‘Beauty in Drought’, ‘Butchered’ and ‘The Net’, visitors to the shows at Fieldays and guests attending the fabulous finale Gala Dinner will be treated to a visual feast unfolding before their eyes.
New to the lineup and keen to eye up what comes down the Rural Runway, are four fabulous fashion forward judges; Hayley Fruish and Leanna Buxton, part of the creative team behind the Mt Maunganui footwear label Chaos & Harmony; socialite and fashionista Bridgette O’Sullivan; and local textile designer Marian Manson.
It’s this quartet who will have the enviable task of deciding who will take out the titles for each of the three categories; Avant Garde, Designer Traditional, and newly created Classroom Couture at Friday’s finale – and with a prize pool of $12,000 up for grabs, incredibly innovative outfits are on show.
Bridgette O‘Sullivan says she has a soft spot for the event.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the Ag Art Wear competition at the Fieldays and this year I’m most excited to be a judge! I’ve judged many Fashion-in-the-Field Competitions over the years, so this year to find the winning masterpieces made out of raw materials is going to be quite the challenge.
“I’ll be looking for incredibly creative, well made and stylish ensembles that complement the personalities wearing them.”
Included in the 26 entries showing on the runway are four from Australia, making the competition truly international, with the Trans-Tasman battleground set in motion.
The Rural to Runway Gala Dinner & Awards Show is hosted in Wintec’s Atrium, on Friday.
