Vivienne Tam
The rich colours and textures of Vivienne Tam’s designs are inspired by Chinese culture and East-West fusion. Born in Guangzhou, she was left in China with her grandparents when her family first moved to Hong Kong, only joining them when she was three. She graduated from PolyU and then studied in London, moving to New York where she hawked her designs to Henri Bendel’s from a duffel bag. After designing her first label, East Wind Code, she launched her eponymous line in New York in 1994. Her Asian prints and skilful embellishment earned her a nomination in 1998 for the Womenswear Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Her controversial Mao collection that uses prints of artist Zhang Hongtu’s satirical portraits of the Communist leader, is now in the permanent archives of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
