With Beijing show, designer Vivienne Tam focusing on China
The fashion designer, who was born in China and grew up in Hong Kong, has decided to return to her roots with business plans for Chinese market
Last week Vivienne Tam held a big fashion show in Beijing, in front of an audience of Chinese VIPs and fashion followers. It was only her second show in mainland China, and first in more than a decade.
Her spring-summer 2017 catwalk extravaganza was the main event of the three-day InStyle Expo, which happened just after China Fashion Week. Tam partnered with Motorola for the show, introducing a branded add-on accessory for the new smartphone Moto Z. It was just one of several growing moves the designer has planned in a pivot towards Eastern markets.
“The last time I did a show in Beijing, it was in 2002 on the Great Wall,” says Tam a few days later at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. “It was a time when the arts district 798 was just starting there.
Tam’s brand is obviously popular in Hong Kong, but it’s really the American market, where she lives, that has been her base. That could all change when she opens stores in China, riding on her two decades of global fashion expertise and a renewed world interest in designers and brands hailing from the East.
Tam is of course keen to tap into the lucrative Chinese market, which has a natural affinity for her clothing, style and legacy. She’s considering altering her clothing to cater more to the diversity of Chinese market.