Vivienne Tam Fall 2016

Vivienne Tam is in love with Chinese culture. And that is a good thing!! In past outings, Tam has been inspired by chinoiserie, the Forbidden City, Chinese iconography as seen in Shanghai, the Paris of the East, and other Far East references which when funneled through hers lens of modernity and innovation creates a distillation on where fashion is heading.

For fall 2016, Vivienne Tam referenced a mélange of different cultures from the Chinese western frontier across central Asia to the Caucasus—comprising an emerging economic and cultural trade route to as the new “Silk Road.” Liner notes for the collection detail, “drawing upon indigenous cultures from Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, all the way to Turkey and Russia, this culture-bridging approach makes for a harmonious mosaic that is the main theme of the collection.”

This new “Silk Road” is producing a cross-pollination of cultures that borrows from past cultural influence while keeping solidly in the past, as well as projecting toward the future. This cross-pollination is aptly present in Tam’s fall 2016 collection.

Paired with a mid-1970s design aesthetic—gauchos, poncho-styled tops, and loose fitting trousers—and Tam’s affinity for mixing patterns, textures and colors palettes, this fall 2016 collection was more consumer and retail friendly than Tam’s spring 2016 that had an overabundance of masculine silhouettes that were sometimes unflattering to the feminine physique.  Still, this collection was far removed from a parochial palette and more line with this new, emerging global consumer and traveler that comfortable almost anywhere.

Tam’s color palette in this collection is characterized by the rich, earth tones of burgundy, tan and deep black balanced against burnished pewter, silver and bronze metallic. And Tam’s ingeniously incorporation of patchwork leather, quilted jacquards and chunky knits with indigenous patterns married with Tam’s unique color palette and interesting fabrications helped produce a collection that drew credible references from the “Silk Road” of the past but was also very current with a projectile toward the future. In other words, yesterday, now and next!!

Standouts in the collection is Tam’s merino wool mock turtleneck sweater with Caroq patchwork in boysenberry, ultra suede patchwork jacket and skirt, sequin Raglan sleeve top with striped Ikat motif, cream and grey mohair sweater with black trousers, and sequin zigzag sleeveless gown with Talismanic applique.

—William S. Gooch