Mount Maunganui Intermediate students Lillian Akagi and Mia Labone have won second place in Toi, New Zealand's largest annual wearable arts competition for schools.

Toi is part of the performing arts competition Showquest, run by Rockquest Promotions.

Lillian and Mia say the inspiration for their piece named Crazy Art 'was to go on the crazy side of things."

"We wanted to incorporate the visual arts by using everyday art supplies, like if you were a seamstress you use buttons, if you were a painter you use paintbrushes everyday. A creative assemblage to promote craziness.”

Maddison Bott and Olivia Lynch from Breens Intermediate in Canterbury won first place.

The top ten national finalists in the Open section and the top ten national finalists in the Junior section have all won a sewing machine from Bernina and WOW prize pack.

Winners Maddison Bott (senior), Olivia Lynch and Olivia Varley (junior) have won tickets to attend the 2022 World of WearableArt show in Wellington and a voucher from The Fabric Store.

Toi is now New Zealand's largest wearable arts opportunity for school students, produced in collaboration with World of WearableArt - WOW - and supported by Bernina and The Fabric Store.

It originated as part of performing arts competition Showquest, but rapidly grew into a standalone platform due to enthusiasm and demand the event organisers saw from art, fashion and design focused students.

The goal is for students to get a taste of the World of WearableArt experience while at school, and to nurture budding young designers that may one day enter the globally celebrated WOW competition. This year was the biggest year yet, with 285 individual entries of Wearable Art garments throughout the country.

About Toi, National Producer Kelsey Moller says 'each year the creativity, construction and out-of-the-box thinking steps up a notch. We were blown away by the ideas and stories students brought to life in their garments this year.”

Teams were judged by Dame Suzie Moncrieff and Heather Palmer from World of WearableArt on four main areas - concept, originality and innovation, quality of construction, and health and safety. This is how safe the garment was for the model to wear and move around in.

'It was an absolute joy to judge the Toi 2022 entries, and to see the creativity, ingenuity and sense of fun and adventure that students had brought to their garments for this year," says WOW Founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff.

"We can see so many future WOW designers developing and are excited for what is to come.”

Toi is produced in collaboration with World of WearableArt and RQP, and supported by Bernina and The Fabric Store.

The full list of awards presented at the Toi National Final are:

Toi Junior

• 1st Place - Tomorrow Is Too Late by Maddison Bott & Olivia Lynch (Breens Intermediate, Canterbury)
• 2nd Place - Crazy Art by Lillian Akagi & Mia Labone (Mount Maunganui Intermediate, Bay of Plenty)
• 3rd Place - Catastrophe At The Tea Party by Sammie Del, Koko Payne, Charlotte Bos & Mireia Mayall-Nooij (Breens Intermediate, Canterbury)

National Finalists

• The Kraken by Cyprus Martin & Lewis Blyth (Waiouru Primary School, Manawatū)
• Rehua & Peke by Hawani by Ema Hepi, Cassie Courtney, Chloe Hepi-Ritete, Sarai Ramsay, Meiken Bradbury, Melody Hore, Nevaeh Hotu, Mary Kiwi, Envy Lambert-Nuku & Layne Murray (Mokoia Intermediate, Rotorua)
• Tea Time! by Stella Harrop, Linda Huynh & Abi Davis (Howick Intermediate, Auckland)
• Paint Spill! by Brooke Mander & Giana Lauder (Monrad Te Kura Waenga O Tirohanga, Manawatū)
• Sluginker by Sophia Gilmour (Northcross Intermediate, Auckland)
• Arachne's Web by George Keene, Sofia Collins, Iris Mills & Ruby Millar-Bell (Breens Intermediate, Canterbury)
• The World On My Shoulders by Dimitri Sanger & Drish Danny (Howick Intermediate, Auckland)

Best Design Brief Interpretation:

• Myths, Legends & Fantastic Beasts - Arachne's Web by George Keene, Sofia Collins, Iris Mills & Ruby Millar-Bell (Breens Intermediate, Canterbury)
• Stories Of The South Pacific - Rehua & Peke Hawani by Ema Hepi, Cassie Courtney, Chloe Hepi-Ritete, Sarai Ramsay & Meiken Bradbury, Melody Hore, Nevaeh Hotu, Mary Kiwi, Envy Lambert-Nuku & Layne Murray (Mokoia Intermediate, Rotorua)
• Larger Than Life - Paint Spill! by Brooke Mander & Giana Lauder (Monrad Te Kura Waenga O Tirohanga, Manawatū)
• City Of The Future - Rogue Robot Terminator by Nathan Liang & David Li (Bucklands Beach Intermediate, Auckland)

Toi Senior

• 1st Place - Kaieke Ngaru by Olivia Varley (Hamilton Christian School, Waikato)
• 2nd Place - The Wendigo by Wilbur Calver (Whanganui Girls' College, Northland)
• 3rd Place - The Third Day by Irene Sun (Hamilton Christian School, Waikato)

National Finalists

• Consumer by Mika Coe, Vita Lawson, Millie Crowe, Eleanor Thomas Moore & Maggie Thoms (Wellington High School, Wellington)
• Feathers Of Fire by Catherine Lagarde & Holly Popham (Paraparaumu College, Wellington)
• Earth, Sky & Sea by Ally Fellows (Paraparaumu College, Wellington) - SISTER
• Te Niupepa by Isla Fellows (Paraparaumu College, Wellington) - SISTER
• Vouivre by Kate Briscoe (Wellington High School, Wellington)
• Beyond The Waves by Lily Cannon & Madhurima Choudhary (Henderson High School, Auckland)
• Miyamoto Musashi by Liam Gore (Pakuranga College, Auckland)

Best Design Brief Interpretation:

• Myths, Legends & Fantastic Beasts - Feathers Of Fire by Catherine Lagarde & Holly Popham (Paraparaumu College, Wellington)
• Stories Of The South Pacific - Earth, Sky & Sea by Ally Fellows (Paraparaumu College, Wellington)

Sustainable Garment Award - The Kraken by Cyprus Martin & Lewis Blyth (Waiouru Primary School, Manawatū)

Bernina's Choice Award - Expressing Me by Cathy Wu (Northcross Intermediate)

Creative Photo Challenge - Hine-Kōrako by Zara Latimer (Northcross Intermediate, Auckland)

Bernina's Choice Award - FernPelt the Warrior of Cats by Kassie Geerlings (Taranaki Diocesan, Taranaki) Sustainable Garment Award- Te Niupepa by Isla Fellows (Paraparaumu College, Wellington)

WOW Inspiration Award - Consumer by Mika Coe, Vita Lawson, Millie Crowe, Eleanor Thomas Moore & Maggie Thoms (Wellington High School, Wellington)