WOW business grows and will be even bigger next year

The business behind Wellington's World of WearableArt Show is thriving while others flounder in fragile economic times.

It is also positioned to showcase New Zealand around the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

WOW is a privately owned and profitable business that has no trouble funding a million-dollar plus production budget each year and is happy with its relationships with sponsors.

It is also a business that is proud of the opportunities it gives to young people and of the platform it provides for two charities to raise money.

"It is a business and it is run as business," chief executive Gabrielle Hervey said.

It is a small business, employing half a dozen fulltime people all year. These days the big crew of production people and performers assembled for the annual production are mostly paid. The dressers have chosen to remain volunteers.

"It is like a start up business every year," Ms Hervey said.

The show, which runs in Wellington for two weeks this year, will be seen by 43,000 people, up from just under 40,000 last year.

That compares with 17,500 when the last show was performed in Nelson in 2004 and a long way from the 200 or so people who watched the first event 22 years ago.

The growth has been achieved even during a global financial crisis courtesy of the strength of the brand and loyalty of the customers.

"The demand is there. I think people are being more discerning about how they are spending money in the downturn, but maybe people decided not to go to Australia instead," Ms Hervey said.

Brands and strategy manager Donna Ching said 50% of audience has been to WOW before.

"It is a repeat audience who know that they come and get value for money," she said.

Next year the show is being held a month early and will run a week longer from August 25 to September 10 to work in with the Real New Zealand Festival in Wellington ahead of the rugby tournament.

The organisers are not playing up connections between the artistic and rugby communities but they know their event is increasingly international.

They attribute a rise in international entries to the world of mouth that spreads from visitors to the event's museum in Nelson.

The Pacific section in the awards will be a Kiwi icons section next year to help promote New Zealand in the year so many visitors are expected for the rugby tournament.

The show contributed $15.1 million to the Wellington economy last year, according to an economic assessment report.

Two in every three attendees come from outside the city. The audience is 80% female, has a high income and is educated. The WOW event is also popular with families.

But Ms Hervey is animated when she talks about the opportunities the event provides to students and members of the city's creative community.

Among the models are children and high school students. WelTec School of Hairdressing students do the hairstyling and Weltec School of Beauty Therapy and makeup Artistry do the makeup. Pupils from the New Zealand School of Dance perform alongside professional dancers.

"WOW has always been about giving people an opportunity to do something a bit different," Ms Hervey said. "A lot of people have been involved in the show for a long time and take real pride in the brand.

"For a dance student to perform in front of 3500 and work alongside professionals is a huge opportunity. Often after they graduate they come back and we give them contracts," she said.

The show also employs crafts people who make the costumes. Its "sewing team" put in 2000 hours to make the costumes for this year's bizarre bra section, which is just one of seven sections in the show.

The WOW company is owned by founders Suzie Moncrieff and Heather Palmer, according to Companies Office records.

"It is designed to make a profit. I don't apologise for that. Each show is reinvested into the next show," Ms Hervey said. "We do know what we are about. There is a real soul to the brand that comes from the owners."