NFT in the collection of Vivienne Tam
Vivienne Tam used iconic NFT characters in her latest #SS23 collection.
Vivienne Tam: fashion and NFT come together.
Technology and fashion intertwined last month in fashion, and Vivienne Tam continues to unite the digital with the tangible.
Hong Kong based fashion designer Vivienne Tam looks to NFTs and the metaverse to bring her brand to China’s “crypto generation” of the zeta generation.
After realizing that the many things she couldn’t create in the physical world could be done in the virtual one, Tam’s focus is now on creating a bridge between the two universes.
In fact, the designer mixed NFTs into New York Fashion Week shows:
“It was a challenge, as some images were difficult to match.”
Vivienne Tam’s story is what you would call a Hong Kong success story. Raised from her city roots to become an international designer who has dressed US First Lady Jill Biden, Tam is now looking to the virtual world and beyond to take her label to new heights.
The Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed the luxury retail landscape in Hong Kong.
Before the pandemic, high streets were characterized by a mix of luxury tenants accompanied by sky-high rents. Luxury stores in areas such as Queen’s Road Central depended on visitor spending.
However, the pandemic-related travel restrictions led to a massive reduction in tourists and many luxury retailers closed their stores.
Generation zeta shoppers are suffering. This is a big problem for luxury brands.
Tam’s business has been similarly affected, particularly her business in China.
Therefore, the need to do something different, rethink the fashion industry. It’s not just about fashion, but about lifestyle.
“We need to rethink how we communicate with the zeta generation and the cryptocurrency generation. The pandemic has forced us to be creative in our thinking. We grouped ourselves as a company and developed a strategy to think outside the box.
says Vivienne.
Time spent socializing with tech entrepreneurs in Hong Kong gave Tam the inspiration to figure out where she wants to take her brand. Now the designer focuses on the metaverse and how to mix it with physical stores. While stuck in Hong Kong, she had the chance to meet many people from the tech world who opened her eyes.
The future in the hands of the metaverse
The designer says:
“The future is the metaverse, and I think that’s exciting. There are so many new ways of doing things, like combining the physical world with the virtual: that’s the challenge.”
Tam is interested in the gap between people’s online lives and their spending on physical goods and sees opportunities in NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The fact that there is no physical component to NFTs made her want to bring the two together and be the bridge between the physical and virtual worlds.
That’s what happened in her exciting new collection for the New York Fashion Week show.
Vivienne brought NFTs to her show, incorporating NFT imagery into her clothing:
“I had a lot of fun developing my line and it was exciting every day. It was challenging and at the same time some images were hard to match, but I love a good challenge.”
