Wearable Art Festival soars on the Sunshine Coast
A creative revolution is quietly gaining altitude on the Sunshine Coast. Once known solely for its beaches and laid-back lifestyle, this regional Queensland destination is now capturing national attention for a very different reason: a flourishing, world-class arts scene.
AWAF - 2024 Runner-up Trashion - Natalie Hamblin for Plastic Rain worn in this image by Model Jodi Urli
As more Australians trade city life for coastal living, the Sunshine Coast is experiencing a cultural renaissance. Arts and cultural tourism are on the rise in Queensland, with visitors increasingly drawn to the region for its vibrant creative pulse as much as its sun and surf.
In a strong sign of support for this cultural shift, the Australian Wearable Art Festival (8–9 August 2025) is set to showcase one of the country’s most striking and fast-growing regional events.
The Australian Wearable Art Festival — often described as where fashion meets sculpture and performance — transforms a 27-metre catwalk into a stage for boundary-pushing design over two unforgettable days.
The Festival celebrates its fifth year with a focus on sustainability, innovation and spectacle, with works made from live growing grass, handwoven natural fibres, robotic elements, and unexpected materials like old video tape, plastic bags — even dog hair.
2025 edition
Festival Co-Director Wendy Roe said the 2025 edition was shaping up to be the biggest yet.
“We saw a 25 per cent jump in entries compared to 2024, with artists from as far as Romania, the United States, New Zealand and across Australia entering,” Ms Roe said.
“That surge reflects the growing global reputation of the festival. Designers know this year will be bolder, more prestigious — and audiences are responding too with tickets are already well ahead of sales from this time last year.”
Audience numbers mirror the buzz with numbers doubling in the past five years, and with 55 per cent of attendees now travelling from outside the Sunshine Coast, including 20 per cent from interstate.
Cultural tourism is in fact one of Australia's fastest-growing segments, with the sector expanding by 23 per cent over the past five years, compared to a 19 per cent growth in total tourism. This trend highlights a significant shift towards immersive, experience-led travel, particularly in regional areas like the Sunshine Coast. 1
Inspired by global success stories like New Zealand’s World of WearableArt, which draws over 60,000 visitors annually to Wellington, the Sunshine Coast festival is carving out its own bold path — shining a spotlight on regional creativity while boosting the local economy.
As Australia’s major cities grow more crowded and expensive, the appeal of regional living — and regional festivals — is stronger than ever. Events like the Australian Wearable Art Festival are leading a national shift: regional Australia is no longer the cultural underdog, but a bold new frontier of artistic expression.
And now, with over 80 direct flights to Sunshine Coast Airport from Melbourne and Sydney every week, there is no excuse for curious creatives and culture-hungry travellers. The Sunshine Coast isn’t just catching the cultural wave — it’s flying it high.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said Council was proud to support this fabulous, fashion-forward event through our Major Events Sponsorship Program.
Social fabric and economy
“We recognise that the arts are an important part of our social fabric and economy,” Mayor Natoli said.
“Investment in the arts continues to grow, and we know our residents and visitors are seeking more cultural events like this.
“The Australian Wearable Art Festival continues to draw international entries, as well as Queensland, and other parts of Australia.
“And the popularity of this annual event shows the Sunshine Coast’s appeal as a leading events destination, particularly for the arts sector.”
Event Details
Date: Friday 8 – Saturday 9 August 2025
Venue: Venue 114, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Four shows including a brand-new preview performance.
Australian Wearable Art Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland. Sunshine Coast Council is the official destination partner for the Festival.
The Festival would also not be possible without key partners including Visit Sunshine Coast, Argon Law, Sunshine Coast Airport, Hello Sunshine and In Noosa Magazines, My Weekly Preview, Frankie Magazine, Textile Fibre Forum, 92.7 Mix FM, Fresh PR & Marketing, Horse & Water and Converge Marketing.
Artist spotlight: Grace Duval redefines what wearable can be
Among the headline artists appearing at this year’s Australian Wearable Art Festival is Grace Duval, a Chicago-based designer, maker, and photographer whose visionary work straddles the line between fashion and futuristic sculpture.
Her accolades are global. In 2024, Duval’s piece Curves Ahead took home the coveted Supreme Award at World of WearableArt in Wellington, New Zealand—the first American artist to do so in over a decade. Her work has since travelled widely, earning a devoted following and high-profile collaborators along the way, including Disney, Hot Topic, and Her Universe. She's been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Paper Magazine, and Bustle.
But for all her acclaim, Duval’s creative ethos is grounded—literally. She builds her works from repurposed materials, scavenging everything from inner tubes and VHS tape to used towels and discarded luggage. Her pieces are large-scale and sculptural, transforming the human form into something unrecognizable, uncanny, and utterly captivating.
“I spend more time than I care to admit perusing alleys and trash cans for my next material,” she once said with a laugh. “The greatest creative challenge is turning the mundane into something magical.”
Duval regularly collaborates with other artists and performers to create surreal, immersive experiences—think installations that blur the line between performance art and sci-fi dreamscape. Whether witnessed on the catwalk, captured in a lens, or experienced live in motion, her work is unmistakably hers: otherworldly, bold, and deeply human at its core.
Judges' spotlight: Rachel Burke brings joy, glitter and star power to the jury table
Bright, bold, and instantly recognisable, Rachel Burke is more than just a designer—she’s a one-woman creative phenomenon. Based in Brisbane, the multidisciplinary artist, author, and maker is known for her whimsical, maximalist creations that transform everyday objects into joyous, tactile spectacles.
As one of three judges for the 2025 Australian Wearable Art Festival, Burke brings a distinctive eye for craftsmanship, concept and flair—qualities that have defined her career across fashion, fine art, and publishing.
Her signature style—think shimmering tinsel, vivid colour, and a fearless embrace of the fantastical—has adorned celebrities like Harry Styles and Cate Blanchett, hit the Brisbane Fashion Festival catwalk and been showcased in gallery spaces across the country. Her work has appeared at the Museum of Brisbane, Side Gallery, Walker Street Gallery, Saint Cloche, and the Australian Centre of the Moving Image, among others.
Deeply inspired by “naive craft materials”—pipe cleaners, pom-poms, glitter—Burke shares a kinship with the festival’s ethos: that wearable art can be both deeply personal and utterly transformative. Burke is passionate about elevating the overlooked, the discarded, the mundane—and spinning it into something magical.
Her presence on the judging panel ensures this year’s festival will not only celebrate technical skill and visual impact, but also a spirit of creative play, reinvention, and joy.
[1] https://culturalattractionsofaustralia.com/news/launch-cultural-tourism-harnessing-one-of-australias-fastest-growing-tourism-segments/?utm_source=chatgpt.com