WELLINGTON, New Zealand— A futuristic dress, headpiece and shoe outfit won the top prize at an annual “wearable art” show in New Zealand's capital on Saturday night. Its makers: Two Chinese design students, who fashioned the look from translucent plastic.

Designers Yuru Ma and Mengyue Wu, both enrolled at Donghua University in Shanghai, took home not only the Brancott Estate World of WearableArt Supreme Award for their piece, “Delight of Light,” but also the runner-up prize with their second entry, "Revive," inspired by military...