Vivienne Tam

Vivienne Tam (, born 28 November 1957) is a fashion designer based in New York City. She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of three. She attended the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Tam's fashion brand is named after her and is inspired by Chinese culture, design, modern fashion, and east–west fusion. The theme of her first collection was EAST WIND CODE. She authored China Chic, a book in which she explored the ways in which Chinese style meets Western style and described elements of the Chinese culture like her mother's cheongsam that had the most impact on her. She also discussed how Chinese culture intertwined with Western style and influenced her future work.[1] She has worked with Hewlett-Packard on a special Vivienne Tam range of designer netbook computers, such as a version of the HP Mini 1000 and the HP Mini 210. Tam also appeared on dressup site Stardoll where she has her own suite and brand name. She has also designed dresses for the characters in the Animax movie LaMB.

Tam debuted her collaboration with Chinese jewelry brand TSL at her Spring 2013 fashion show.[2]

Works and collections

Her first few collections were heavily influenced by traditional Chinese prints, fabrics, and designs. Her clothes were popular among fashion-forward women interested in Asian influence designs.[5]

MAO

In 1995, she teamed up with artist Zhang Hongtu for her collection "MAO".[5] Both Vivienne Tam's and Zhang Hongtu's families were denounced by Mao's regime, so their joint collection signifies "a kind of mental therapy," as Zhang puts it. The collection included several portraits of Mao that depicted him in comical light. For example, one of the images "Mao so Young" shows him with pigtails and gingham dress, and another image called "Ow Mao" shows Mao with a bee on his nose. She produced a series of printed t-shirts with these humorous images. Another collection included garments inspired by "Zhongshan suit", also known as the "Mao suit", since Mao regularly wore suits with the similar style. These suits featured black-and-white images of Mao that fully covered the garment. Vivienne Tam regarded this collection as "more serious, symbolizing the positive and negative effects Mao had on the Chinese culture" [3] In the Asian American community this created some controversy as they felt it was in poor taste, since many had died under his power. She even had difficulty finding a manufacturer in Hong Kong that would take the job, and even several minor protests by her store. Despite the controversy in the launching of this collection, some of the pieces became permanent artworks in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and even in the collections of the Los Angeles's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum, the Texas Fashion Collection, and New York's Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.[5]

Year of the Dragon

This following collection was inspired from Asian Culture, and released in Spring of 2001, featuring images of Buddha. She explained that "The Buddha image has always been in the temple, and I wanted to make it more accessible to the people."[5]

Expansion of her business

In 1996, she expanded her clothing empire and created a shoe line for Candie's, and the year after she opened her first store in NYC, then a branch in LA, Tokyo, and Kobe, Japan.[5]

2017 Spring and Summer collections

In Fall of 2016, Tam debuted her Spring and Summer collection at New York Fashion Week featuring iconic Houston logos. Tam partnered with Visit Houston and Asian Wives Club to promote a new perspective on the city of Houston.[7]

2018 Fall/Winter collection

In February 2018, Tam presented her Fall/Winter 2018 collection, inspired by a "spiritual journey" through the Himalayas to Tibet, in Gallery I of Spring Studios.[8]

birth name	Tam Yin Yok
birth place	Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
birth date	November 28, 1957
education	Hong Kong Polytechnic University
occupation	Fashion designer
website	viviennetam.com

Early life

Work

The East-West fusion

Works and collections

MAO

Year of the Dragon

Expansion of her business

2017 Spring and Summer collections

2018 Fall/Winter collection

See also

Further reading

External links

References