Somethingness

Maybe it’s because this past seasons’ shows were my first experiences at a major fashion week, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m still sifting through everything. Since I hadn’t been to the states since before the financial crisis, there seemed to be a very different tone. You could sense the worry in the air. A friend of mine had told me that after 20 years of working in the fashion industry, all the sudden it was so hard to find work. Friends outside the fashion industry have been talking too about the difficulty of finding work. Things are changing, some people noted how depressing the shows were, others snorted about the omnipresence of bloggers, like all you had to do was start a blog to get into a show (Oh yes, it’s that easy).

When things change, there are some people who reminisce about the way things ‘used to be’. Things ‘used to be better..’ like memory is anything to really trust, lord knows how many times memory betrayed me, enabling me to  justify going back to a bad lover, or to eat at Mac Donald’s ‘remember all the fun times?’ Yes, remember how good things used to be, before mobile phones, atm machines, TiVo, penicillin, times when we had to kill a forest of trees for a magazine that could be read in 5 minutes.

Then there are the people who adapt when things change, who don’t wait so long to read the writing on the wall. They may even take the writing on the wall and integrate it into their newest work…

Then there are the people who adapt when things change, who don’t wait so long to read the writing on the wall. They may even take the writing on the wall and integrate it into their newest work. Vivienne Tam is one of those people, instead of making you jump through hoops and ride tiny tricycles just a crappy seat at a runway show that’s over in 10 minutes, Tam has engaged the blogging community by setting up an event where bloggers can access multimedia stations, take close up photos of the collection. Even for the show, HP had flown a group of bloggers to the show (myself included).  Unfortunately because of traffic (automobile traffic) I missed the presentation, but they set up mannequins with the latest collection. I found Vivienne Tam to be very friendly and interested in the blogging community, which most designers are really open to bloggers, but many fashion week events aren’t so blogger-friendly. Though I do believe that within the next few years, you’ll see more designers embracing the blogging community, I would have to say that Vivienne Tam is one of the first to break these boundaries, I mean for goodness sake, a year and a half ago, I was denied press access to SF Fashion Week because the promoters didn’t consider blogs press.

Anyway, I could talk for hours about this. Back to Vivienne Tam’s collection, titled Nothingness, the Chinese character with that meaning was worked into every piece. I love typography, and was intrigued how it sculptural the writing could be in the dresses. I particularly liked the leather dress which was rich with textures. Some of the other pieces I think I liked more when viewing them on Models instead of mannequins, but that’s almost always the case.  All in all it will be interesting  to see how things develop from this shift in presenting new fashion, because it’s not nothing, it’s definitely something.

There is the lovely Tierra from Technology Starlet and  her autographed VT Mini(I forgot mine, so no autograph for me!) But we did get a special gift from Vivienne Tam… as soon as I get nice photos, you’ll see!

Here are the  bloggers who were invited on this special trip (most of which aren’t fashion bloggers, as it was also about the VT Mini).

❤ Techie Diva ❤  Tech Mamas ❤ Notebooks ❤  Ponzarelli ❤ Chip Chick ❤ Gear Live ❤ Gear Diary ❤  Gotta Be Mobile ❤  Moosh in Indy ❤ The Art of Accessories ❤  A Mom in Red High Heels ❤  Morning Side Mom ❤ The Mama Bird Diaries ❤ Vivir Latino

I have to say thank you for without HP and Vivienne Tam, the whole NYFW experience, including the IFB Dress Up Soirées wouldn’t be possible.

For more NYFW pics visit my flickr set.