WELLINGTON, July 15 -- Ten designers from Shanghai have been selected to appear on stage in the 2015 World of Wearable Art (WOW) Awards Show, the Competition Director Heather Palmer said Wednesday.

The WOW Awards is a world-renowned competition for which designers create works of art to be worn on the human form. From Sept. 24 to Oct. 11, new show directors Mike Mizrahi and Marie Adams will lead the creative production of this year's three-week show in Wellington. "The standard of many entries this year has been astounding and designers have impressed the judges with their creativity and originality,"Palmer said."We have seen an innovative use of technology through the exploration of materials and techniques used."

The quality of entries made a strong impression on first time WOW judge, Greer Twiss. "I think the craftsmanship and inventiveness both in ideas and execution of the entries were often wonderful. The more you looked into them the more they offered. It is great to see that'making' is alive and well."

Some 128 garments by designers from 16 countries and regions, including Hong Kong and China's Taiwan, are represented in the Awards Show. There will be two further judging rounds in September to decide the section winners and the overall Supreme winner.

Last year, several designers from Shanghai Donghua University won awards of different levels. Huang Lvlan, who designed a garment inspired by piano music Swan Lake, won the first place in two sections. Also from Donghua, designer Ma Yuru and Wu Mengyue won the Supreme Award in 2012.