In late March 2022 Katie asked local felting extraordinaire, Mia Faulks, to co-create a wearable art piece with her for the Australian Wearable Art festival on the Sunshine Coast.
After choosing the 'Floriana' category and a quick deliberation they realised they had to make a bright floral piece to reflect their personalities and chose to make the focus on bees - showcasing how important the little steps we each take every day are in creating mutually beneficial relationships.
Mia's daughter, Star, took to the runway in May 2022, just 7 weeks after the ideas conception, to model the final piece.
Seeing their artwork strutting along the 25m catwalk alongside 40 other extraordinary wearable art pieces was a dream come true for Katie. They look forward to creating further wearable art for this competition in future years.
After choosing the 'Floriana' category and a quick deliberation they realised they had to make a bright floral piece to reflect their personalities and chose to make the focus on bees - showcasing how important the little steps we each take every day are in creating mutually beneficial relationships.
Mia's daughter, Star, took to the runway in May 2022, just 7 weeks after the ideas conception, to model the final piece.
Seeing their artwork strutting along the 25m catwalk alongside 40 other extraordinary wearable art pieces was a dream come true for Katie. They look forward to creating further wearable art for this competition in future years.
Honey to the Bee
Over 100 hours of hand crafting.
An elegant Queen Bee, complete with crown, sits atop a haute couture designed and made felt hat.
The beehive bodice is 1.5kg of 100% NZ wool that has been hand felted.
The models arms and legs are adorned in hand wet felted vines with leaves and a flower.
The 'garden' skirt is created with 4 fabric layers (garbadine, 2 colours of tulle and glitter chiffon) to create life and movement. The garden is adorned with numerous hand wet felted flowers.
The bodice and skirt are covered with many adorable buzzy bees that bob around as the model walks.
An elegant Queen Bee, complete with crown, sits atop a haute couture designed and made felt hat.
The beehive bodice is 1.5kg of 100% NZ wool that has been hand felted.
The models arms and legs are adorned in hand wet felted vines with leaves and a flower.
The 'garden' skirt is created with 4 fabric layers (garbadine, 2 colours of tulle and glitter chiffon) to create life and movement. The garden is adorned with numerous hand wet felted flowers.
The bodice and skirt are covered with many adorable buzzy bees that bob around as the model walks.
'Honey to the Bee' - created by Katie Hooper and Mia Faulks, worn my Star Faulks
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Walking along the 25m catwalk in front of a 500 strong audience.
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Behind the Scenes
Last minute outfit touch ups
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Preparing the vines for our models arms
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Beautiful chaos
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The artists and their model. L-R: Mia Faulks, Star Faulks, Katie Hooper
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