AOTEAROA NZ: ART, DESIGN & THE WORLD OF WEARABLE ART
SEPTEMBER 2026
GLEN ARMSTRONG & TBC
*** Preliminary Itinerary ***
OVERVIEW
Aotearoa New Zealand has been at the forefront of contemporary art and design for decades, with an international reputation for innovation and sustainability. The stunning landscape and agriculture, particularly sheep farming, ensure world-class raw materials and natural settings for fashion, art and design.
This new 10-day tour offers a window onto Aotearoa’s contemporary scene. Beginning with 5 nights in Auckland, we go behind the scenes with a curator at Auckland Art Gallery and meet artists and designers making waves internationally, in media ranging from painting to sculpture, fashion and jewellery. We enjoy a day trip to Waiheke, an island art enclave only a ferry ride from Auckland harbour, and to Brick Bay Winery, a stunning backdrop for a contemporary sculpture park.
After the short flight to Wellington, we unpack for four nights to enjoy a city regarded as New Zealand’s capital of cool (and coffee!). Together with a curator, we survey the collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa and discover the extraordinary works on show at Lower Hutt’s Dowse Art Museum. A day trip to the Martinborough wine region offers an opportunity to sample a fine drop, and to admire a fine art collection housed in a stately Georgian mansion. At Wētā Workshops, one of Wellington’s proudest exports, and in our meetings with some highly regarded fashion designers, we continue our focus on the innovation of Kiwi design.
The culmination of this theme is our VIP attendance at WOW, the World of Wearable Art. This fashion competition was founded in 1987 and features mind-blowingly creative entries from around the world. It is managed by Still, a foundation led by Hideaki Fukutake, whose father is the philanthropist behind Japan’s extraordinary Benesse Art Site on Naoshima.
Your enjoyment is enhanced by two expert perspectives: that of an Australian fashion historian and experienced tour leader, and of Glen Armstrong, a Kiwi tour leader, artist and expert on the contemporary scene.
Images by Camilla Rutherford for Tourism New Zealand.
TOUR LEADERS
On this tour, you will be accompanied by an Australian fashion historian and by Glen Armstrong.
Glen Armstrong is an exhibiting artist and tour operator with a passion for sharing the art and history of Aotearoa New Zealand. He has a degree in art history, owned and operated a travel agency in Auckland for fifteen years, and has led tours across New Zealand and Japan with a focus on contemporary art.
The second tour leader will be announced in April 2026. She is an Australian cultural historian and highly experienced educator, researcher, and tour leader. She has a PhD in history from the University of Sydney, and her doctorate was the first academic history of America’s pre-eminent fashion magazine, Vogue. She lectured in American Studies as a Research Associate at the United States Studies Centre for several years, has delivered public lectures at venues such as Hazelhurst Arts Centre and for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS), and has led fashion tours for one of Australia's leading cultural tour operators.
Highlights
Enjoy 5 nights in Auckland, with behind-the-scenes tours of galleries with curators and of studios with fashion designers and makers
Take a front row VIP seat for Wellington’s world-renowned World of Wearable Art, celebrating innovation and sustainability in Aotearoa fashion
Admire fine private collections and sculpture parks, in an Auckland home, at Brick Bay Winery and in lovely Martinborough
Go behind the scenes at Wētā to find out how Kiwi ingenuity has changed film design, production and costumes from Wellington to Hollywood
Benefit from the expertise of your tour leaders, an Australian fashion historian and a local specialist in contemporary art