Discover the latest events and exhibitions where you can showcase your creations and connect with fellow costumiers
Upcoming Events in New Zealand
From wearable art and historical dress to cosplay, screen costume and fashion exhibitions, there is a thriving international community devoted to the art of dressing up.
Here you’ll find some of the costume events, exhibitions and festivals we’re watching over the coming months, beginning at home in New Zealand and venturing further afield.
Event details can change, so check the organiser’s website before making travel plans.
World of WearableArt — GLO!
17 September–4 October 2026 | Wellington
Part fashion, part costume, part sculpture and part theatrical spectacle, the World of WearableArt Awards Show brings together extraordinary wearable creations by designers from New Zealand and around the world.
Finalist garments are presented in a large-scale theatrical production combining costume, performance, lighting, music and stagecraft.
Why we’re watching: One of the world’s most distinctive celebrations of wearable art and experimental costume design.
More information: World of WearableArt
Armageddon Expo Auckland
23–26 October 2026 | Auckland
New Zealand’s largest pop-culture convention brings cosplay firmly into the spotlight, with thousands of fans creating costumes inspired by film, television, comics, anime and gaming.
Alongside celebrity guests and entertainment, cosplay competitions and activities provide an opportunity to see some impressive home-grown costume and prop making.
Why we’re watching: A great snapshot of contemporary cosplay and New Zealand’s increasingly sophisticated maker community.
More information: Armageddon Expo
Ōamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations
12–15 November 2026 | Ōamaru
For several days each November, Ōamaru embraces its Victorian heritage with residents and visitors dressing in elaborate period clothing.
The programme traditionally includes heritage activities, entertainment, a parade, dancing and opportunities to bring out everything from bustles and bonnets to waistcoats and top hats.
Ōamaru is also home to the Victorian Wardrobe, an extensive collection of Victorian-style clothing available for hire.
Why we’re watching: Possibly New Zealand’s best opportunity to see historical costume being worn rather than simply displayed in a museum.
More information: Victorian Heritage Celebrations
Art Deco Festival
18–21 February 2027 | Napier
Napier’s famous Art Deco Festival transforms the city into a celebration of the 1920s and 1930s.
Period clothing is a major part of the experience, alongside vintage cars, architecture, music, dancing and heritage events.
From flapper-inspired evening wear to linen suits, cloche hats and beautifully restored vintage garments, the festival offers plenty of inspiration for anyone interested in interwar fashion.
Why we’re watching: One of New Zealand’s biggest celebrations of historical fashion and vintage style.
More information: Art Deco Festival Napier
Costumiers’ Grand Fantasy Masquerade
24–27 June 2027 | Arawa Park Hotel, Rotorua
Costumiers’ NZ brings its Grand Fantasy Masquerade Weekend to Rotorua, celebrating creative costuming through historical dress, fantasy, steampunk and theatrical imagination.
The weekend includes themed evening events, dancing and immersive spaces where guests are encouraged to wear elaborate costumes inspired by everything from Victorian fantasy and mythology to medieval and original creations.
Why we’re watching: A rare New Zealand event where costume-making is not simply part of the entertainment, but the central focus of the experience.
More information: Costumiers’ NZ
Australia
Oz Comic-Con Sydney
12–13 September 2026 | Sydney
Cosplay takes centre stage at Oz Comic-Con, with dedicated cosplay spaces, competitions, parades and opportunities for makers to show their work.
Why we’re watching: Accessible from New Zealand and a useful window into Australia’s cosplay and costume-making scene.
More information: Oz Comic-Con
ENCORE! Australian Performing Arts Collection
16 September 2026–9 May 2027 | Melbourne
Drawing on five decades of collecting Australian performing-arts history, ENCORE! explores the people, productions and objects behind Australian stage and screen.
Costumes and performance objects associated with some of Australia’s best-known productions and performers form part of the exhibition.
Why we’re watching: A chance to look beyond the finished performance and explore the material culture of theatre, dance and entertainment.
Halloween at the Museum
October 2026 | Melbourne
More information: ENCORE! at Arts Centre Melbourne
Melbourne Museum is expanding its Halloween celebrations with a Haunted Gala incorporating fantasy costume, theatrical performance and costume competition.
Why we’re watching: Halloween costume is increasingly becoming its own creative discipline, sitting somewhere between cosplay, theatrical costume and fashion.
Around the World
Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop
Until 16 January 2027 | Edinburgh, Scotland
For lovers of screen costume, this is a particularly significant exhibition.
Cosprop has supplied period costumes to film, television and theatre for six decades, with its work appearing in productions including A Room with a View, Out of Africa, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.
Why we’re watching: A rare opportunity to explore the craft and history behind one of the world’s great costume houses.
More information: Dovecot Studios
The World of Costume Design: Careers, Craft and Collaboration
28 September 2026 | Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A closer look at professional costume design and the people and skills involved in bringing characters to life.
An online option also makes this one accessible to costume enthusiasts outside Britain.
Why we’re watching: Costume isn’t simply about beautiful clothes — it is a collaborative storytelling discipline involving research, design, construction and performance.
More information: Doll Dressing — Museum at FIT
Costume Art
Until 10 January 2027 | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute turns its attention to the relationship between clothing, art and the human body.
Featuring hundreds of objects, the exhibition places dress alongside artworks from across the Met’s collections.
Why we’re watching: An opportunity to consider costume and clothing not simply as fashion, but as objects carrying ideas about identity, beauty, society and the body.
More information: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Doll Dressing
16 September 2026–3 January 2027 | Museum at FIT, New York
An exploration of the relationship between dolls and fashion during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Miniature garments may seem like child’s play, but dolls have long reflected — and sometimes influenced — changing ideas about fashion, identity and aspiration.
Why we’re watching: A fascinating intersection between fashion history, miniature costume construction and popular culture.
More information: Museum at FIT
Cosplay Around the World
Dragon Con
3–7 September 2026 | Atlanta, USA
One of America’s major fan conventions, drawing over 80,000 attendees. Known for its spectacular cosplay across sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and anime genres.
Why we’re watching: Dragon Con’s cosplay is among the most ambitious in the world — a useful benchmark for what dedicated costume communities produce.
More information: Dragon Con
New York Comic Con
8–11 October 2026 | New York, USA
One of the world’s largest pop-culture conventions, with an enormous cosplay presence across all genres.
Why we’re watching: NYCC’s scale and diversity make it a strong indicator of global cosplay trends.
More information: New York Comic Con
MCM London Comic Con
23–25 October 2026 | London, UK
A major gathering for Britain’s cosplay and pop culture community.
Why we’re watching: The UK’s largest comic con, and a good window into European cosplay culture.
More information: MCM London
Lucca Comics & Games
28 October–1 November 2026 | Lucca, Italy
Costume takes over an entire medieval Italian city for five days. One of Europe’s most visually spectacular cosplay events.
Why we’re watching: The combination of cosplay and a historic walled city creates something genuinely unique — worth following for the imagery alone.
More information: Lucca Comics & Games
Tokyo Comic Con
11–13 December 2026 | Chiba, Japan
Screen culture and Japanese cosplay meet in one of Asia’s major fan conventions.
Why we’re watching: A window into Japanese cosplay culture, which has its own distinct aesthetics and craft traditions.
More information: Tokyo Comic Con
Know of an event?
We’re always looking for interesting costume events, exhibitions, workshops and gatherings — from historical dress and cosplay to theatre wardrobe, wearable art and traditional clothing.
If you know of an upcoming event in New Zealand or elsewhere that should be included, get in touch.
Last updated: August 2026
Exhibitions
New Zealand
New Zealand Fashion Museum
An online museum dedicated to the curation of Aotearoa’s rich fashion past. It is s for anyone with a love of fashion, heritage, innovation, and creativity.
Visit the museum here
United Kingdom
The Victoria and Albert Museum – London
Nestled in the heart of London, the Victoria and Albert Museum boasts an unrivaled collection of costume and textile exhibits. From ancient fabrics to contemporary fashion, immerse yourself in a visual feast of garments that span centuries and continents. The museum’s dynamic exhibitions offer an inspiring journey through the art of costume design, showcasing intricate details and transformative styles that continue to influence fashion today.
Fashion Museum – Bath
Currently online only as it moves to a new facility.
There are almost 100,000 objects in the Fashion Museum collection, ranging from decorated gloves from the time of Shakespeare to fashions by today’s leading designers in the Dress of the Year collection. These precious objects, all showing different aspects of the history of fashion, have (for the most part) been given to the museum by many generous individuals and organisations during the 50 plus years that the Fashion Museum has been in Bath.
London Museum
The museum collects objects that help to tell the stories of this diverse, multicultural city of over nine million people. We collect from archaeological digs, community partnership projects, and through individual gifts and purchases. Over the years, the museum has acquired and continues to acquire material important for London’s history, the study of London, or items that express powerful personal responses to the city.
This 26,000-strong Dress and Textile collection reflects London’s history as a centre of fashion and captures the ‘London look’, as well as many historical garments. The digital images feature a close up look of the construction and details of these garments.
Check out Princess Margaret’s iconic Dior Cinderella dress in the collection