Raglan Art to Wear is ready to wow audiences for its 20th year of bringing together art, design, fashion, and theatrical performance in a catwalk extravaganza at the Raglan Town Hall.
The Local Rag caught up with local creative Lara Sweetman to learn about her Art to Wear experiences.
From inspiring young designers and behind the scenes cheerleading, she offers her pearls of wisdom.
Don’t miss this world-class theatrical extravaganza and witness the stage come alive with incredible works of wearable art on Saturday 27 May, 2pm and 7pm shows.
Ticket sales open in May at :
creativeraglan.co.nz
Audience tickets $25.
Lara Sweetman is someone who has supported the wearable arts in Whaingaroa from the beginning; in fact she was doing art to wear around the various schools before it was even a thing in Raglan.
After being blown away by a World of Wearable Arts show she attended in Wellington over 25 years ago, she pitched the idea of a student wearable arts project to Raglan Area School.
Selected students involved in extension activities created the first Raglan wearable arts costumes and held a show of their creations in the school hall under Lara’s wing.
Moving to Te Mata School, Lara ran their accelerate programme introducing students to the wacky world of wearable art.
This time they took it a bit further, entering the Waihi Wearable Art show, which was the second largest show in Aotearoa at that time.
“We couldn’t believe it, we scooped up all the major prizes in the children’s section,” she says.
While taking some time out from teaching after the birth of her fourth child, Lara mentored a group of Te Uku students to enter their creations into the Raglan Art to Wear show, which had now come to town.
Back into teaching again, this time at Waitetuna School, she introduced the world of wearable arts to the whole school.
Supporting all the Waitetuna children, Lara was also overseeing her own four children’s wearable art creations, three of whom were at primary and one at day care.
“That was absolutely crazy. We just made a whole room in our house, which was just a creating room.”
Lara’s daughter Ayla Benseman won the children’s supreme award when she was nine for her Jacqueline Frost costume, and a few years later she was runner-up for the open section supreme award with a dragon fly costume called Gossamer on Wind.
Son Luka was third at Raglan Art to Wear in 2010 for his Banjy on Fire entry inspired by the Avatar movie, and then highly commended in 2012 for his Celestial Tempest entry – a warrior-inspired creation with a unique New Zealand flavour.
And to top it all off, youngest children Ngakau and Georgie came second in the Dr Seuss children’s section in 2010 as the cheeky Benseman Thing 3 & 4.
Lara says a big part of a costume’s winning formula is telling the story on stage on show night and she would dedicate a whole school day getting the students and costumes show-ready.
“We spent the day choreographing, playing with music, getting movement to the costume, working out how to do that wow factor on stage, and developing confidence before they go and have to do the rehearsal.”
It seems costume making runs in the family as Lara’s grandmother Jean Sweetman, a seamstress for local families, travelled the district on horseback and stayed with families for a week to make all their clothes.
“She was an artist and a designer, and she used to make everything without patterns. My grandmother taught me to sew and then I used to sew things without patterns as well. Interestingly my eldest daughter, while away from home at university, taught herself to sew and started upcycling clothing from op shops and sewing new creations without patterns too,” Lara says.
The family costumes have always been a team effort and Lara’s partner Ken Benseman gets roped in to help as well.
“It’s pretty much always been a collaboration. My partner is very good at the technical aspects.”
Daughter Georgia’s Deer to be Wild costume needed some support to hold a heavy set of antlers on a riding helmet and Ken attached a neck brace to take the weight of the antlers and that became part of the costume.
A sea change has seen Lara take on the role of Raglan Naturally community connector which means she no longer supports student’s wearable art efforts; although at a recent visit to Waitetuna School, Lara was treated to the students excitedly explaining their creations for the upcoming Art to Wear show.
“It is just so wonderful to see the excitement and passion to be creative and off the wall continue.”
Lara still continues supporting behind the Raglan Art to Wear scenes, helping to display a previous costume in town, and as part of the backstage crew.
Lara’s wearable art tips
Give yourself at least eight weeks from when you start thinking about your design to finished costume
Brainstorm, search the internet for images, sketch and build up a design board
Think about what story you are trying to tell and how it can have a big impact on stage
Start sourcing materials everywhere you go, like Kaahu’s Nest, op shops, your own house, your families’ and friends’ sheds
Think about the functionality of the design and test the technical aspects work before adding the creative flourishes
Practice moving in the costume and look at how it moves
Collaborate with people who can support with technical skills
Be flexible about your design and don’t be afraid to make changes
Get feedback. Your costume will benefit from a fresh set of eyes, and add extra WOW factor
Plan and practice makeup, hair and choreography
Ask a confident friend to model your costume if you are not comfortable on stage
Think about how to utilise the stage for audience impact
Make sure the costume is robust and strong. Sometimes hot glue is not enough to hold it all together for the rehearsals and shows.
By Janine Jackson
