The hardest part is just starting – but once you do, it’s amazing what you can learn and create.

A dynamic first-time entry from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School Design student, Heather Wright, Curtain Call struck a powerful silhouette on the 2024 WOW Stage!

Curtain Call, Heather Wright, Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, New Zealand

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Interviewer: Kia ora Heather, how are you feeling today?

Heather: I’m feeling very excited, I can’t even fathom it all.

Interviewer: How was the awards night for you last night?

Heather: It was amazing. It was awesome to see it for the second time. I watched the dress rehearsal, and I was sitting in very different places. I was closer to the stage for awards night so I could see a lot more of the performance and the faces and how things moved, I loved, I loved watching that. And then the dress rehearsal, I saw it from up high. So, all the AV on the stage was beautiful and the costumes that had things on the floor were so stunning.

Interviewer: What was it like seeing Curtain Call on the WOW stage for the first time?

Heather: I mean, I’ve never seen something that I've made on a stage that big and so, it was beautiful and so incredible and everything I hoped for. Like I could even see I’d done some beading, and I wanted it to sparkle, and I didn’t know if that would happen but under the lights it just worked perfectly, and I was so happy.

Interviewer: And your model Tabitha was of course fabulous. Did you get to chat with her?

Heather: Yes! I had a chat with her last night, and it was so great to meet her. She was so lovely, and I was so honoured that my garment was the only one she was wearing. It was so special.

Interviewer: What motivated you to enter the WOW Competition?

Heather: So, I’m studying at the moment and I’m in Design at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, and so about this time last year I saw WOW and in the span of I think one or two weeks I also saw the Toi Whakaari Costume Showcase performance, which is the Costumier Designer students and I was very jealous of them, all of the garments are so beautiful and I was thinking to myself I would love to do something like that and create something of my own. So, it motivated me, and over the summer, I was working a bookshop job, but I wanted to do something creative, so I work nine to five and then come home and sew, and that would be like my summer project.

Interviewer: What is wearable art to you?

Heather: Wearable art to me is art that you can move in and perform in, and you need to make sure, in my opinion, the performers are really comfortable to be able to do all of the ranges of motion. I love physical theatre and dance, so I really want to costume for those sorts of things.

Interviewer: With that in mind, it’s fascinating that your garment also has a limit to an element of its movement.

Heather: Yes, I didn’t have that in mind initially. I had made, there’s a curtain kind of ruff for the neck piece and I made matching wrist pieces at the start and then as I was making it, I realised that it didn’t need to have wrist pieces, the hands didn’t even need to be seen, and I was like maybe the sleeve can just be one. And so, I put them to the side, made the sleeve, made the garment, and was looking at those wrist pieces and going, ah, they could be on the heel of the shoe. And so, I wrapped them around, glued them, stitched them up, and it all, like, pieced together.

Interviewer: Zero waste.

Heather: Zero waste – that's the idea!

Interviewer: What would you say to anyone else looking at entering WOW for the first time?

Heather: I would say the hardest part is just starting and just committing to, okay, I’m going to do it. It might not be done this year or next year, but it’s just starting and trying to learn as you go. I learned a lot about how I problem-solve and how I think, and I think that’s special and important as a designer to grow, learn, and keep learning new things.

Interviewer: And what would you say as a student also taking this on?

Heather: I would say as a student it’s been a massive platform to create your portfolio. I mean this is the first of many garments I want to make. And so, I'm so excited for it to be one of the first of my portfolio that I can show people and say this is the work that I'm making and that I want to do in the future. So, it’s very special.

Interviewer: What’s next for you?

Heather: I’m in my second year at Toi Whakaari, so, I've got another full year to go. Next year is going to be huge, I’ve got production roles and I’m making a short film and interning and so I’ve got a lot on next year, but I absolutely want to come back and do another garment. I’ve started thinking already but next year is huge and then once I graduate who knows, just see where, see where it takes me!