Pieces from designer Vivienne Tam's spring/summer collection, which is an ode to Houston, have begun to appear on the designer's website.
Items include a tie-dye T-shirt emblazoned with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo logo and one bearing the image of a bleached skull ($175), a denim fringe jacket ($430), a patched cardigan with a spaceship logo ($275), peasant blouses and dresses with cutout lace patterns in the Rodeo logo (4330-$405), and floral print dresses ($375-$560). A checkerboard bomber jacket emblazoned with mascots of Rice University and the Rodeo has sold out. Tam closed her New York store on Tuesday, but the items remain for sale online.
The items are adapted from the runway looks for consumers, a Tam spokesman said, as is common in the industry.
The spokesman adds that three other looks are in production and will will available on the website the second week of April. They include a Houston logo collage dress and two additional floral patterned dresses.
Soon after visiting Houston for the first time last summer, Tam told CultureMap she began dreaming about Houston nearly ever night, and before she knew it, she had sketched plans to create her entire 43-look collection around the memories that remained etched in her mind. Her collection, shown at New York Fashion Week last September, incorporated patterns of armadillos, butterflies and pink spoonbills, fringe, denim, lace, sequins, embroidery and silver-coated fabric, along with logos from NASA, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Rice University and Houston Ballet,
The funky collection drew largely favorable reviews, along with some criticism after an investigative report by ABC13's Ted Oberg, who revealed the collection was funded in part by $450,000 from the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau's CEO Mike Waterman suggested the fashion show was an alternative way to sell the city to Asian tourists — Tam remains popular in China — and told Oberg he "would absolutely" do a collaboration with Tam again.
However, the Houston collection is likely a one-season-only offering. Tam recently showed her fall collection at New York Fashion Week and she has moved on to another city. In her program notes, she said her newest collection was inspired by "the electrifying energy of Hong Kong nightlife, ablaze with neon lights, enveloping this urban jungle in a haze of exciting velocity."
Negotiations are reportedly underway to bring the Houston collection to a local boutique.
Vivienne Tam Rodeo tie-dye T-shirt, $175.
