The designer and CFDA member presented two shows at New York’s Spring Studio on Monday, featuring Vivienne Tam’s fantasy fashion glamor Fall 2023 collection and NFTs at the Scale show.
“Weaving into the Metaverse” as her spring 2022 theme, she reaches out to bridge the physical and digital realms. Celebrity guests such as Christine Ko, Zoe Chao, Tati Gabrielle, Laufei, Ari Abdul, Vika Abiyeva and Richard Chang attended or were outfitted in the fashion house.
The new line takes cues from the previous collection, which heavily featured a fashionable new vocabulary of NFT iconography. Bored apes and Cyberkongs hacked into physical costumes.
According to the brand, TAM is “inspired by the utopian vision of a new Hong Kong future, where Web 3.0, blockchain, game worlds and immersive experiences coexist and collaborate”. Here, he fuses real-world elements — history and fashion — with the design language of digital collectibles, linking the ancient Chinese language of Jiaoguan, or oracle bone script, to the 12 zodiac signs presented with a variety of bluechip NFTs.
From the Vivienne Tam SS2023 NYFW show
Courtesy photo/Isidore Montag/Gorunway
Those roots may run deep, but Tam’s vision is also very contemporary as fashion explores the intersection of physical and digital art, business and technology. In her mind, Web 3.0 and the natural world are compatible with each other, blockchain tokens allow access to special events and other features.
The double show expanded on the concept, with the virtual version mirroring the real-life event from the red carpet to the website arrivals to the after party. Live portals allowed guests to move between both worlds.
“Since the beginning of civilization, humans have used pictures to communicate and record our history, now humans use pictures to create new currencies, communities, environments and even worlds,” the designer said in a statement.
Tam’s fantasy red carpet.
A decent image
A gateway between the real world and the metaverse.
A decent image
Her affinity for NFTs comes as no surprise, seeing her approach to fashion and technology as a natural yin and yang. The virtual show, which was conceptualized and created by Swan Sit and Boy3r, was produced in collaboration with TAM member Web3 Technology Incubator Cyberport in Hong Kong and an international team including Luby, Animoka Brands, Hefa, Propy and more. Vatom
“As the Metaverse evolves, virtual worlds must evolve by learning how to work, live and play in the Metaverse,” added Tam.
