East meets West meets the metaverse in Vivienne Tam's latest NYFW show.

On a sunny Friday afternoon in Manhattan's Fashion District, Vivienne Tam performs the first model fit for her Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Her show is two days away. In the studio, there are steamer assistants, racks of colored clothing, and a board on the wall that lays out the order of the entire collection. As she explains that the show is an immersive metaverse experience, I am witnessing the physical labor behind the virtual world.
And yet the metaverse is at the heart of Tam's work. For Spring/Summer 2023, she introduced metaverse themes to her collection with cartoon imagery and pixelated motifs throughout knitwear and graphic patterns. "The last set was all about NFTs and bringing the virtual world into the physical world," says Tam. "I want to [create a] bridge so that my clients can learn about the virtual world. I found that the world was really limitless for creatives. I find it very inspiring and limitless. I can do anything."
After more than 40 years of design, she maintains a love for the intricacies of the work. "I love using my hand, doing things like embroidering and knitting." Her mention of the word "weave" catches my attention, because although she is clearly talking about the physical weaving of textiles, it is true in more ways than one.
Tam's work is known to be a fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics. After growing up and receiving her design degree in Hong Kong, she moved to New York and established her brand in 1982. Drawing on her Hong Kong heritage, Tam's career is a master class in weaving anti-frying cultures into a cohesive collection of garments.&nbsp;
On the windowsill of the showroom, bags with cartoon characters are placed; colorful knitted bucket hats are arranged; and Web3 avatar embroidery patches are lined up in rows. Tam's Fall/Winter 2023 collection includes the Oracle Bone Scripture, an ancient Chinese character setting believed to be the oldest Chinese script in the world. Holding up the sleeve of a high crop top, she tells me that these characters were "how [ancient Chinese civilizations] drew about the world, about animals" and that it was an "old world" way of "being with nature." ."&nbsp;
But this collection isn't just bridging two cultures, it's bringing more of Tam into the virtual world. "Textiles is about weaving and weaving the metaverse together &mdash; bring everyone together, all the NFT committees and the old world, the new world. Bring together all the virtual world committees, like the NFT, the PFP, all of this, together."
Illustrating this, Tam's show on Sunday night simulates a metaverse experience for the public, bringing the virtual world into the physical, once again. In a space designed to resemble Spring Studios, guests will enter and pass a step and a repeat for VIPs before entering the performance space, where large windows look out over rows of seats arranged along the sides of track. After the show, head backstage to see the inspiration board for the collection, plus photos of each model on their runway. There, guests from the metaverse can tune in to a live stream from the real-life backstage area as the models get ready.
For every new technological invention, there are always those who fear it or don't understand it. But then there are the pioneers, the boundary pushers who see the potential or are at least willing to pursue it. While Tam's love of the design process is what drives her, she is not blind to the desert of possibilities opened up by the metaverse. Instead, she embraces him as she, too, weaves "history and humanity" into the virtual world, something she lacks.

La colección Otoño/Invierno 2023 de Vivienne Tam da vida al metaverso

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