Tauranga film and television costumer Georgia Chalmers-Jones will return to the World of WearableArt (WOW) stage this year as a finalist in the 2026 competition.

It is the third time she has reached the finals, after debuting in 2023 when her garment The Golden Age of Queens won the New Zealand Design Award.

“It is always such an amazing feeling,” she said.

“Each time it is just as exciting as the last. It is both a sigh of relief and intense excitement that my work is accepted.”

Chalmers-Jones is one of three Tauranga designers selected as finalists for the 2026 World of WearableArt Show: GLO!, which runs from September 17 to October 4 at Wellington’s TSB Arena.

The competition features 108 finalist garments created by designers from 18 countries.

Georgia Chalmers-Jone helping dress model Chloe Henry ahead of the 2023 WOW show.

Her journey into costume making began after attending film school in 2013.

“I originally thought I was going to be an editor, but I got really into art and design and specialised in it at the end of the course,” she said.

Chalmers-Jones has worked in the film industry for more than 10 years and said she was drawn to costume making early in her career.

It was while working in Wellington in 2022 on the television series Time Bandits that she first attended the WOW show.

“I was amazed. There was such a diversity of ideas and techniques and materials, yet it was brought together in such a spectacular way. It was hard to know where to look first.”

The experience inspired her to enter the following year. Her first garment, The Golden Age of Queens, drew inspiration from Queen Elizabeth I and other reigning queens of the 16th century.

Winning the New Zealand Design Award in 2023 encouraged her to continue entering the competition.

“It definitely gave me confidence,” she said.

“I don’t enter the show to win anything but to be a part of something very special and to push myself in my own artistic endeavours.”

This year’s finalist garment is inspired by the Op Art movement of the 1960s, using geometry and colour contrast to create optical illusions.

Chalmers-Jones said she also challenged herself to develop new painting techniques while making the piece.

“I really had to pre-plan everything before I assembled my piece. I am usually more organic with my costume construction.”

The garment took about a month to complete.

“I devoted almost every waking second I could to my costume,” she said.

A challenge arose photographing the finished garment for judging.

“When I was taking photos to submit the costume, I realised it was too big for the ceiling of the house, so I got my model to wobble out to the back deck so I could take photos.”

Chalmers-Jones said her work in film and television has had a significant influence on her approach to wearable art.

“I work with embroiderers, jewellers, sculptors, seamstresses, dye and textile technicians, art finishers, illustrators and leather workers. There is a wealth of knowledge and shared techniques that I can learn from and experience in my day-to-day.”

While she enjoyed the collaborative nature of film work, she said WOW offered a different creative opportunity.

“I’m usually given designs and briefs by my designer on the job. With WOW, my only restrictions are stage parameters and gravity. Other than that, they really let you make anything your heart and hands can come up with.”

A close-up showing detail of the garment by Georgia Chalmers-Jones that won the NZ Design Award in 2023.

Chalmers-Jones said the support of family and friends is important throughout the creative process.

“There is definitely a moment or two where there is a lot of self-doubt. It is integral to have those people there.”

Her advice for other Bay of Plenty creatives thinking about entering WOW is simple.

“Don’t think too hard. It feels overwhelming ... but really you can just start small.”

With the show in September, Chalmers-Jones said she was most looking forward to seeing her costume on stage.

“The models are amazing. They take the story of the costume and add movement and bring it to life.”

Georgia Chalmers-Jones applying makeup to her model Chloe Henry in 2023.

WOW head of competition Sarah Nathan said one of WOW’s strengths was the diversity of its entrants.

“WOW sees the work of everyday people making extraordinary things stand alongside some of the world’s most exceptional avant-garde talent,” she said.

“This year’s 108 finalist garments represent an extraordinary cross-section of global creative talent.”

Nathan said designers had transformed a wide range of materials into wearable art, with this year’s designs incorporating everything from more than 100 love letters to emergency blankets, milk bottles and chip packets.

Finalists will travel to Wellington in September for designer events before the WOW Awards Night, where more than $200,000 in prizes will be awarded.

For Chalmers-Jones, the opportunity to be part of the event remained the biggest reward.

“There is literally no show like WOW in the world, so it is the coolest thing to be a part of,” she said.