A look from Vivienne Tam’s Fall/Winter 2014 collection featuring an image of a mural from Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves in China at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City on February 9, 2014. (Vivienne Tam)
Ancient Silk Road caves, 1970’s silhouettes, digital printing, and the strong presence of mobile app WeChat could all be found at Vivienne Tam’s Fall/Winter 2014 runway show at New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week this weekend.
The WeChat iPhone case given out to guests at Vivienne Tam’s New York Fashion Week show. (Jing Daily)
Held on February 9 at New York Fashion Week’s Lincoln Center location, the Chinese designer, who is known for drawing on her cultural roots in her designs, based this season’s collection around China’s Mogao Caves by the western city of Dunhuang. Featuring jewel tones such as sepia, amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and oxidized and jade green, as well as metallic gold and bronze, the Silk Road-influenced pieces were mixed with 70’s-inspired styles and digital prints. Adding to the show’s combination of old and new were 70’s songs by the likes of The Velvet Underground that played while models walked the runway in front of a colorful digital background.
The ancient and vintage elements also mixed with Tam’s high-tech partnership with Chinese mobile app WeChat for the show. Fans who added Tam as a contact were able to access special behind-the-scenes updates, while guests were given iPhone 5/5S cases inspired by the collection and embedded with the account’s QR code.
In addition to introducing WeChat to Tam fans in the United States, the partnership also likely helped to promote the designer in China, where the app has an estimated 300 million users. This was aided by the front-row presence of Chinese actress Jiang Xin (蒋欣), who appeared on both Tam’s official WeChat account and Sina Weibo page.
Here are some more looks from the show: