25 Sep Designing Women: Telluride goes to New Zealand
by Sue Hobby and Amy Boebel
After 26 hours of travel, we got to Wellington at 10 am.
The day we got in we went to the dress rehearsal for the show – it is held in a huge space and was packed with people taking advantage of the discounted tickets. The show runs two hours long without an intermission which they alert the audience to – so the bladder challenged can scoot out. Sue, Luci, Jeanie, Helen and I bought a bottle of champagne and some cups and settled into the second row in front.
There are seven catagories of garments and our section, "Folded," includes 29 outfits. In total, there are about 165 pieces worn by 40 models
Yesterday – NZ time – we had International Designers' day and got to go backstage at the Arena. We walked around Wellington where garments created by Supreme Winners of past years were on display. Lunch at the Botanical Gardens included a fiber-to-fashion demonstration, then it was on to the Weta Workshop, birthplace of all the special effects, costumes, and props for "The Lord of the Rings" movies, which was shot locally. Richard Taylor, the Oscar winning genius creator of the Weta Workshop, personally gave us a tour of the facility.
The mayor of Wellington hosted a reception for all of the international designers and the U.S. deputy ambassador attended to wish us good luck. Dinner was at a local seafood restaurant. We ended the evening with a complimentary cocktail "Deep South."
WOW is a huge event for the people of Wellington, who are amazingly gracious and consistently enhancing our experience with their friendliness and warmth. The whole city has embraced the WOW show with WOW menu items and shop displays. The excitement has even spread to an article in this week's Time magazine.
Tonight is the big night. We are trying not to get too excited – although our seating assignment is at the end of a row down front. Are they trying to tell us something?
More soon,
Sue and Amy
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.