MOTHER VAKA carries 'unapologetic' Pacific stories onto WOW stage

For Pacific designers Vasemaca Tavola and Czarina Wilson, MOTHER VAKA was more than a wearable artwork when it took centre stage at the 2026 World of WearableArt (WOW).

The Pacific-inspired garment, which uses Tongan quilting and references Pacific migration, families and cultural traditions, was named runner-up in the Aotearoa Section.

“It was a massive achievement,” Tavola tells Pacific Days. “We feel incredibly privileged to have taken centre stage. There’s nothing like the World of WearableArt in terms of translating an artistic idea into a whole experience.”

Wilson first entered WOW almost 20 years ago and says returning to the competition with Tavola marks a career milestone.

“To return all these years later at a very different point in my creative practice, this time collaborating with Vasemaca, and then be named runner-up felt incredibly special,” Wilson tells PMN News.

“MOTHER VAKA is so unapologetically Pacific. She carries references to our families, our practices, our cultures and our experiences here in Aotearoa.”

Watch Vasemaca's full interview below.

Inspired by the vaka - the vessel that has carried Pacific voyagers across generations, the garment became a vessel for Pasifika stories too.

The name MOTHER VAKA emerged towards the end of the design process and connects to artwork by Sāmoan-Niuean artist Siliga David Setoga done in 2019.

“She became a vessel of sorts, carrying the contributions and experiences of Pacific people in Aotearoa across generations,” Wilson says. “She takes up space unapologetically, but she also carries weight.”

MOTHER VAKA on stage at the 2026 World of WearableArt.

MOTHER VAKA is constructed using monomono pani, the Tongan art of quilting.

A floor-length navy and orange bandana skirt features the manulua, or two birds flying, motif. The workwear-inspired materials reference early Pacific migrants and were previously used in Wilson’s 2025 New Zealand Fashion Week showcase.

A second, multicoloured layer reflects Aotearoa-born Pasifika and the evolving Pacific aesthetic with an oversized gold kiekie-inspired piece.

What started as a garment about digital economic futures took on a deeper meaning for Wilson.

“It made me think about the weight our mothers and matriarchs have carried - family, work, culture, sacrifice and responsibility,” she says.

The upper half features 12 stacked, hand-crafted floral fabric garlands made from off-cuts, referencing celebrations like graduations and weddings.

Modelled by Eddstar Tupolo, Tavola says MOTHER VAKA became a powerful statement of Pacific presence on the WOW stage.

“She's absolutely wrapped in her culture, and it's a form of armour and protection,” Tavola says. “It moves with her, it also emphasises her shape. We were really influenced by this idea of taking up space.”

Wilson says watching Tupolo embody that idea was “definitely a teary-eyed moment”.

Established in 1987, WOW is an international competition and annual theatrical show of innovative design and stage performance. Open globally to anyone over 18, it celebrates original, well-crafted industrial and fashion creations.

Entrants create six dynamic section themes, including recurring mainstays like Aotearoa, Avant-garde, and Open, alongside unique categories that change annually.

Czarina Wilson debuted at New Zealand Fashion Week 2025 as part of Kiri Nathan's Kāhui Collective Showcase. While historically dedicated to Māori creatives, the collective expanded last year to include Pasifika/Indigenous designers, including Wilson and Temesia (Fiji). This orange and navy monomono pani piece has now been acquired by The Auckland War Memorial Musuem. Photo/Tink Lockett

Both designers hope MOTHER VAKA inspires emerging Pasifika creatives to take their culture onto global stages without leaving their roots behind.

“This is for all of us,” Tavola says. “There's so many things that connect us, even though there's a lot of things that divide us. Mother Vaka takes us all with her, and she speaks to the universal mother.

“I hope that Pacific people see the World of Wearable Arts…as something that's very accessible and doable for us.”

The World of WearableArts (WOW) is being held at Wellington’s TSB Arena until 4 October. Tickets are available here.