Spending many late nights linking 1700 metres of chain to about six metres of fabric has paid off for a Mount Maunganui designer, whose design will feature on the world stage.

Jo Odgers' three-piece design is a finalist in the American Express open section of the 2014 World of Wearable Art competition in Wellington on September 26.

Her design will be displayed by three models each wearing a full-body suit of black, gold or silver metallic PVC fabric, all linked together with fine jewellery chain.

'The story of my design is we're all linked – whether we're Pacific Islander, European or Asian, we're all linked,” says Jo.

This is the 41-year-old's fifth time as a selected finalist, but she's never entered the open section before.

Not keeping track of how many hours spent on creating her design, Jo says she's been working on it for about four months since starting the creation in March.

'There was a stage of about three weeks that I never went to bed before about 1.30am.”

Jo's creation will feature on stage with hundreds of entries from across the world, with all garments going through a strict judging process.

'This is a very cut-throat and tough process, you're up against designers that work for the likes of Weta Workshop and have worked on major movies,” says Jo.

'So when you're just a part-time, at-home designer, like myself, it's extremely rewarding to be up there and competing with the best.”

The talented designer's works have also featured in Miss Universe New Zealand and Miss World NZ.