New Zealand artist Kayla Christensen has taken out the top honour at this year's World of WearableArt (WOW) competition, winning the Supreme WOW Award for her intricately hand-painted and stitched tapestry, Sacred Nightfall, at Wellington's TSB Arena.

The piece summons an ethereal night goddess drawn from the deep native forests of Aotearoa, and capped off a genuinely dominant night for New Zealand designers at the 2026 awards.

A Standout Night for Kiwi Designers

Against a strong international field spanning 18 countries, New Zealand designers walked away with 15 of the competition's 25 prizes, including both of the night's top two honours.

Taking the Runner-Up Award was husband-and-wife team Erna Van Der Wat and Karl Van Der Wat for Armour of Pain, a piece inspired by Erna's own journey with chronic pain and its transformation "from tormentor to mentor." Judges described the work as a "fearless portrayal of pain and power."

A Well-Earned Win for a Seasoned Competitor

Christensen's win didn't come out of nowhere. The Waikanae-based artist is a 10-time WOW finalist who has already collected six prior awards throughout her competition history, including first place in the Aotearoa Section in 2024 and the Dame Suzie Moncrieff Award back in 2019.

WOW Head of Competition Sarah Nathan said judges were struck by the depth and layered meaning behind this year's winning piece.

"Sacred Nightfall asks us to listen to what remains in the darkness and protect what still lives," Nathan said. "The extinct whēkau and ruru hinapō are painted back into existence, restoring their memory and honouring the fragile natural world that still surrounds us."

A Genuinely Global Competition

This year's winners were selected from 108 finalist entries, created by 134 designers representing 18 countries, competing for a prize pool exceeding $200,000.

While New Zealand designers led the field overall, several international entries stood out as well. Taiwanese student Cheng-Hung Lin took home the 2026 Dame Suzie Moncrieff Award, while Bethany Cordwell of Australia won the Avant-garde Section and Cecilio Castrillo of Spain claimed the Absolutely Positively Wellington International Design Merit Award.

Who Judged the Competition

This year's judging panel brought together three distinct creative perspectives:

  • Dame Suzie Moncrieff, WOW Founder, Ambassador and Resident Judge
  • Kate MacKenzie, New Zealand surrealist and expressionist painter
  • Vicki Taylor, Creative Director of Taylor and The Shelter

Full List of 2026 Section Winners

Section

Winner

Runner-Up

Supreme WOW Award

Sacred Nightfall – Kayla Christensen (NZ)

Armour of Pain – Erna & Karl Van Der Wat (NZ)

Open

More – Katherine Bertram (NZ)

Spectrum of a Wallflower – Louise & Allison MacKay (NZ)

Avant-garde

Hard Exterior, Alter Ego – Bethany Cordwell (Australia)

Marginal Gravity – Chao Po-Chien, Shih Chien University (Taiwan)

Aotearoa

Sacred Nightfall – Kayla Christensen (NZ)

MOTHER VAKA – Vasemaca Tavola & Czarina Wilson (NZ)

Metallic

Armour of Pain – Erna & Karl Van Der Wat (NZ)

The Golden Illusion – Shantanu Singh (India)

Kinetic

Thoughts – Tracey Murphy & Isabel Costley (NZ)

Lophii – Joe Blanck (Australia)

Bizarre Bra

Bust a Move – Lyndal Linton (NZ)

Busted! – Katherine Bertram (NZ)

Special Awards

Beyond the main sections, several designers were recognised with dedicated special awards:

Award

Winner

Ko te Tohu Toi Rākei / Toi Rākei Award

Te Whare Eke Nei – Glenda Hape, Ngāti Pūkeko (NZ)

ALL ACCOR First-time Entrant Award

Platinum – Lisa Newsome (NZ)

Student Distinction Award

Geomanifest – Ya-Hsuan Chen, Fu Jen Catholic University (Taiwan)

Absolutely Positively Wellington International Design Merit Award

Artemisa – Cecilio Castrillo (Spain)

Sustainability Award

Hine Pō – Nathan Wharton, Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa (NZ)

New Zealand Design Merit Award

Acantha – Tracey Vickers (NZ)

SERKO Transformation Innovation Award

Voyager – Dinah Walker & Mark Walker (NZ)

Wētā Workshop Outstanding Design Award

Waldschrat - Horror of the Forest – Nils Reinosch (Germany)

Dame Suzie Moncrieff Award

Hu Ye the Tiger Deity – Cheng-Hung Lin, Shih Chien University (Taiwan)

Great Journeys New Zealand Designer Development Award

Ece Ozalp (Turkey)

See the Winning Designs Live

The winning and finalist garments will feature in this year's World of WearableArt Show: GLO!, running from 17 September to 4 October at TSB Arena in Wellington. Tickets are on sale now through worldofwearableart.com.

Why This Competition Matters

Now approaching four decades, WOW has established itself as the world's leading wearable art competition, a genuine global stage where designers push far beyond conventional fashion into sculptural, narrative-driven and often deeply personal creative territory. This year's results, with New Zealand designers claiming 15 of 25 prizes against genuine international competition, reflect the strength and depth of the country's wearable art community on what remains one of its most prestigious creative platforms.


This article is based on a media release issued by World of WearableArt.