A Call for Entry
The annual ‘WOW’ Challenge invites you to create an item, garment or accessory from what can be found, or grown, right here in Ontario. It also considers how these materials can safely return to the soil once we’re done with them.
It is time to pull out the stops and have fun!
Grow your own, harvest from the wild, glean, selvedge, spin, dye, knit, weave, felt, weld, crochet, glue, stitch, fold, build, shrink, wrap, tan, paint, embroider………..
WOW entries will be featured and winners announced at the WOW Gala Fashion Show. We plan on expanding the event to become an exclusive Ontario-Grown Gala!
Tentatively for February 2028. This gives contestants an 18 month window to create, rather than 12.
We invite you to enter your original garment or accessory made from material sourced in Ontario. Here’s how:
Submissions are open year round. Please register with the link below!
September 10, 2027
Deadline for submissions, with photographs of completed work (x 6 high resolution) and written description of piece and/or process. Applications are then passed to a panel of judges involved with the textile industry. WOW Challenge entrant fee $50. Please send your high resolution photos and written description to: wavefibremill@gmail.com, with your name attached.
Preorder your 2026 WOW Catalogue!
Interested in ordering your own copy of this year’s Wave Ontario Wardrobe Challenge Catalogue? Click the link below!
WOW 2028 Prizes
First Prize $500.00
of Wave Fibre Mill product or services
Second Prize $200.00
of Wave Fibre Mill product or services
Third Prize $100.00
of Wave Fibre Mill product or services
WOW Challenge Design Considerations:
- Percentage of item/outfit from Ontario
- Innovative use of materials (unexpected materials, found etc.)
- Most complete outfit
- Originality (no pre-made items)
- Minimized environmental impact
- Concept
- Quality of design and craftspersonship
Clothing
- Everyday Wear
- Outerwear
- Formal Wear
- Footwear
- Sleepwear
- Underwear
- Other
Accessories
- Hats
- Mitts
- Scarves
- Shawls
- Jewelry
- Bags
- Other
2026 WOW Challenge Winning Submissions
WOW Challenge 2026 Evaluation Panel!
Many thanks to our judges panel for the ‘Wave Ontario Wardrobe Challenge’ 2026! Our panel ths year was made up of four talented members of the textile and fashion industry!
- Pamela D’Ettorre has been a buyer for major Canadian retail chains, as well as a professor of fashion, textiles, and home decor. She has owned and operated her own linen manufacturing business, and is an advocate for Canadian made fashion and textiles. Her focus is on ethical and sustainable fashion and textiles, and how clothing has changed, and continues to change our world.
- Pat Hertzberg had a successful career as a fashion designer before transitioning to fine art as a textile artist. Her work has been in gallery exhibitions across Canada, has been included in various Canadian and American publications, and is part of corporate and private collections around the world.
- Phillip Sparks has been a tailor and designer for over two decades and worked in the wardrobe departments of the National Ballet of Canada, The Canadian Opera Company and the Stratford Festival. He is a skilled producer of custom garments and serves as a professor in the School of Fashion at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto.
- Michele Meadows studied Fashion Design with a focus on knitwear and began a career in the yarn industry. Her love of the outdoors led her to embrace a life in the Muskokas, where she is the owner of Muskoka Yarn Connection in Bracebridge. Her knitwear patterns are widely published both in Canada and internationally.