{"id":104385,"date":"2025-10-28T01:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104385\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:50:08","slug":"on-the-up-rotorua-teen-tiare-savea-on-becoming-a-first-time-wow-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104385\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Rotorua teen Tiare Savea on becoming a first-time WOW model"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wellington hosted the show for the 20th year <\/a>from September 18 to October 5. This season\u2019s theme, Rise, told the story of a community coming together and sharing in the joy of creativity. <\/p>\n

The show marked the final stage of the international wearable art competition, with finalists\u2019 garments presented to more than 60,000 people.<\/p>\n

Savea\u2019s journey began in February when the show held its first auditions at her drama school. She said hundreds of people turned up, learning short dance routines before each round of cuts.<\/p>\n

Savea had always wanted to model, but didn\u2019t think she\u2019d get in because \u201dI\u2019d never done any type of modelling\u201d. <\/p>\n

But applicants didn\u2019t need to be trained models or dancers, said World of WearableArt wardrobe and activations manager Leonie Trathen. <\/p>\n

Auditions were about more than skill. <\/p>\n

Similar to learning a lot about a person from their handshake, Trathen said they could tell when someone had \u201cX-factor\u201d with their \u201cwarmth and personality\u201d shining through.<\/p>\n

She described the group as \u201cperformers\u201d – dancing, moving and bringing the designer\u2019s vision to life. <\/p>\n

Trathen said each garment demanded something different, from a strong mover to someone unbothered by enclosed headpieces.<\/p>\n

\"Rotorua'sRotorua’s Tiare Savea modelling designer Ruth Arkless’s garment Bloomin Box. Photo \/ World of WearableArt Ltd<\/p>\n

Alongside show director Malia Johnston, Trathen helped select who would \u201cjump on the massive big wave of WOW\u201d.<\/p>\n

Savea was chosen for \u201cher smile and her movement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Savea was among the youngest in the cast and one of the few Pacific Islander models and said it felt \u201cspecial\u201d to be selected. <\/p>\n

Representing Rotorua, her Samoan heritage and Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu roots on the WOW stage showed \u201cwe can do this too\u201d.<\/p>\n

With months of rehearsals, the show season saw Savea balancing acting studies with the nightly performances, often finishing classes at 4.30pm before heading to the venue by 5pm for hair and make-up before the 7.30pm start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tiring but worth it,\u201d Savea said. \u201cThere aren\u2019t many chances to be part of something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savea modelled three garments across six themed sections and performed as a dancer in others. One of the garments she wore, The Music Within by Australian designer De Lamby Wulff, won runner-up in the Open section.<\/p>\n

\" Rotorua’s Tiare Savea modelling designer De Lamby Wulff’s garment ‘The Music Within’. Photo \/ World of WearableArt Ltd<\/p>\n

Her background in ballet and hip hop helped with the choreography. <\/p>\n

She credited the more experienced models with making the newcomers feel welcome and sharing tips on controlling nerves and moving confidently in the elaborate garments.<\/p>\n

Savea\u2019s favourite moment came each night when she stepped out in her first garment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reaction from the crowd [was] always new every night\u201d. <\/p>\n

Savea had already built a creative resume outside of the show. She appeared in the New Zealand film Tin\u0101<\/a>, recently added to Netflix, and played the main role in the TV series, Duckrockers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Savea planned to travel to Samoa to film a music video for her Spotify cover of a song by her grandparents\u2019 band, Penina o Tiafau, who were celebrated across the Pacific for their lyrical storytelling and harmonies.<\/p>\n

She is also connected to the Moteo Band of Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu, one of the first New Zealand jazz groups, which toured the country in its early years.<\/p>\n

Savea said the WOW experience further cemented her love for performing and hoped to relive it next year.<\/p>\n

Annabel Reid<\/a> is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke\u2019s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wellington hosted the show for the 20th year from September 18 to October 5. This season\u2019s theme, Rise,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[75701,16717,7491,156,75699,8526,1432,3234,111,139,69,90,6744,75702,1327,38715,75700,9083,5433,9348,5163,223,75698,810,30534,377,2139],"class_list":["post-104385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-auditions","tag-becoming","tag-earn","tag-entertainment","tag-firsttime","tag-latenight","tag-model","tag-months","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-place","tag-rehearsals","tag-rotorua","tag-rotoruas","tag-rounds","tag-savea","tag-stage","tag-survived","tag-teen","tag-the","tag-tiare","tag-up","tag-wearableart","tag-world","tag-wow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}