A Call for Entry
WOW is back for its 2027 season! We heard you loud and clear!
Rather than the tentative Winter date for 2028, we will again host the Wave Ontario Wardrobe Challenge this coming summer in July 2027 in conjunction with our Anniversary & Textile Festival as usual.
We were skirting around our delayed building, but are going to go for it anyway! Our apologies for messing around with dates and confusing the issue! Back on line…
The annual ‘WOW’ Challenge invites you to create an item, garment or accessory from what can be found, or grown, right here in Ontario. Please include consideration on 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, paint, wrap, tan, embroider………..
WOW entries will be featured and winners announced at the WOW GALA Fashion Show on the evening of Saturday, July 17th, 2027.
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!
Saturday, May 15th, 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 is $50. Please send your high resolution photos and written description to: wavefibremill@gmail.com, with your name attached.
All participants will receive a hard copy catalogue of the year’s submissions and festivities.
WOW 2027 Prizes
First Prize $500.00
of Wave Fibre Mill makers’ supplies or services
Second Prize $200.00
of Wave Fibre Mill makers’ supplies or services
Third Prize $100.00
of Wave Fibre Mill makers’ supplies 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 2027 Evaluation Panel!
Many thanks to our judges panel for the ‘Wave Ontario Wardrobe Challenge’ 2027! 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.