'Chinglish' shouldn't have a negative connotation, Vivienne Tam writes in China Chic (HarperCollins $295), a gorgeous soft-cover coffee-table book that explains the gauzy East-West ties influencing her work.
Arguing that mixing cultures is not a bad thing, the Canton-born, Hong Kong-bred, New York-based designer takes readers on a whirlwind cultural tour that makes pitstops at important junctures in her life.
The scenery includes everything from 70s Shanghai to 90s Hong Kong, taking in the fashion, food and philosophy that are now part of her signature style. Not that Tam's creations have always been well received.
She recalls how difficult it was to find a factory in Hong Kong willing to print her classic Mao images in the mid-1990s, for instance. And that boutiques in Taiwan wouldn't carry her controversial garments, fearing political repercussions (the Vivienne Tam 1995 spring Mao Collection, above, was a collaboration with artist Zhang Hongtu).
This book is about more than just fashion, as the mishmash of pictures, interviews and essays reveals. It is an exploration of hybrid worlds. It is also an attempt to answer the question: 'What is Chinese?'