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Former Green Party MP Mike Ward has taken the supreme award at the World of Wearable Art awards, which opened for the first time in Wellington on Friday night.
Ward, who is based in Nelson, won with the Emperor's Entourage, which also topped the American Express Open section. The win earned him $10,000, a $10,000 international travel prize and a Hoglund art glass trophy.
Runner up in the supreme award was Aucklander Rodney Leong, with Pectun Shedding Her Skin, which also took the Avant Garde section.
More than 170 garments - about half the entries received for a prize pool worth more than $85,000- created a lavish visual feast.
The show's creator Suzie Moncrieff says getting the crew and garments to Wellington has been challenging, but worth it.
The show was moved from Nelson after outgrowing its humble beginning as a rural art gallery promotion in 1987. It was announced last June that the WOW awards was moving to ensure its long-term sustainability and to grow and develop the show creatively.
At the time WOW Chief Executive Gabrielle Hervey said the move would take WOW on its next step towards a long-term vision of making it an international event on the world stage.
Prior to the show the wearable creations from New Zealand's most famous fashion show wowed the crowds as designers took their wares to the streets in a parade to get the capital in the mood for the big show.
