Massey design alumna takes out top prize at WOW

The Waikanae-based artist took out the top prize for Sacred Nightfall, a hand-painted and stitched tapestry that summons an ethereal night goddess from the depths of Aotearoa New Zealand’s native forests. The design also won the Aotearoa Section at this year’s show.

“Winning the Supreme Award has been an absolute dream. It is the ultimate recognition and honour to solidify my handcraft and creativity,” she says.

A 10-time WOW finalist, Ms Christensen has now received seven awards from the competition, including first place in the Aotearoa Section in 2024 and the Dame Suzie Moncrieff Award in 2019.

Her latest success comes in a highly competitive international field. The 2026 Awards featured 108 finalist entries created by 134 designers from 18 countries, with New Zealand artists taking 15 of the 25 prizes, including the competition’s top two honours.

WOW Head of Competition Sarah Nathan says judges found Sacred Nightfall mesmerising and multilayered, with strong themes of kaitiakitanga and wairua.

Ms Christensen’s creative journey began when she was a teenager, and led her to study a Bachelor of Design at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University.

Her WOW story began while she was a student at Paraparaumu College. After she and her best friend won tickets to the WOW show through their school’s wearable arts competition, the pair were inspired to enter the competition themselves. The following year, at just 17, they became finalists.

Seventeen years and 10 finalist creations later, Ms Christensen has achieved the dream that began with that first visit to the show.

“Winning this award honours my craft, creativity, determination and passion, and, most importantly, it honours my imagination,” she says.

Her time at Massey helped to develop skills beyond traditional fashion design, encouraging her to explore different disciplines and push the boundaries of her creativity.

“Through my Bachelor of Design, I gained a wide variety of skills, not just in fashion, but across other design disciplines as well. It really pushed me to expand my creativity,” she says.

A key moment came through the Fashion Design Special Project, an avant-garde challenge that encouraged students to develop bold and unconventional ideas. For Ms Christensen, it provided the perfect opportunity to take her creativity into the world of WOW.

Her first finalist entry, Points of Conservation, was created in 2009 with her best friend Renee Louie. She went on to create Taniwha Aboard in 2012, inspired by old wooden trapeze toys, followed by Prana in 2015.

Her graduate collection Aura also proved influential. Combining flowing garments, rigging wire and steel cutouts, the collection explored the interconnectedness of life through Māori perspectives and became an important bridge to the wearable art works that followed.

She credits Massey’s creative environment and the encouragement of mentors including Lilian Mutsaers and Senior Lecturer Sue Prescott with helping her develop the confidence to challenge convention.

Ms Christensen says winning the Supreme Award has reinforced that ideas do not always work the first time, but that is part of the process.

And despite reaching the pinnacle of WOW after nearly two decades of entering the competition, Ms Christensen has no plans to stop creating.

“I will continue to be creative. I see my imagination as my biggest tool, it is endless and exciting and I can’t wait to see what I come up with next.”