The drinks were mocktails, the models were the spectators, and most of the clothing was born as something else. But it was all great.

On Saturday night, Alexandra’s Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery transformed into a catwalk, replacing the usual shop for a fashion show of clothing made from wool.

Customers ordered mocktails and dessert plates and enjoyed looking at the models.

Winton’s fashion designer, Diane Dynes, uses recycled wool garments in her designs and started the evening by explaining the beginning of her journey to upcycling wool garments.

Mrs. Dynes had a store where she sold one-off designs.

On a whim, she made a top out of an old woolen jersey she found at the OP shop when she “didn’t want to be seen in the OP shop like it is now”.

They sold quickly and she realized she was onto something.

Mrs. Dines said her passion for sustainable living and reducing waste has been the foundation of her life and work.

Early collections of upcycled clothes were sold on the market, and the interest people showed in building them, she said, inspired the next phase of her business.

After several years teaching dressmaking at SIT in Invercargill, she developed her own workshop program and now teaches how to turn discarded, worn or damaged clothing into new and fashionable pieces.

Selected from the audience upon arrival, her models showed off unique garments that were more than the sum of their humble parts.

Merino wool, denim and small decorative details were all sourced from various cut-off jerseys, coats, jackets and jeans and reconstructed into new creations.

Audiences were able to stop the models and take a closer look at the techniques involved in the garments they were showing off.

The second part of the evening showcased the winning garments from the previous year’s WoolOn creative fashion event.

WoolOn committee member Francis Anderson said as he prepared for Saturday, it didn’t matter which box of archived clothing he opened and whether there was treasure inside.

An amazing range of styles and materials were showcased, with all garments being at least 75% wool, as required by the competition.

Loader designer Becs Calder showcased two garments.

One was woven and then sewn into satin, and the other featured crochet stitching with tiny pearls.

Entries for this year’s WoolOn event are open now.

Mrs. Dine will be holding a workshop in Alexandra in March.