Tam goes for the gold in fall/winter collection

Vivienne Tam     INTERACTIVE GALLERY See Tam's fashion creations

From Elsa Klensch
CNN Style Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- No matter where she travels, East or West, Vivienne Tam finds inspiration from her native China.

For her fall/winter 2000 collection, the New York-based designer found it at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England -- the seaside residence of three British monarchs.

But it was not the sweeping architecture that entranced her. Instead, she was fascinated by the 19th-century, eccentric British interpretation of Chinese art.

"They look at it so detached, and it's like they don't have the culture, background, so they think of it very differently," Tam said.

Borrowing from tradition, Tam worked Chinese brocade fabrics into the collection -- but used the reverse side.

"Instead of such a bright color, the back side of the fabric has more muted colors," she said.

Tam uses gold -- which she said has "healing properties" -- to bring light to deep colors such as chocolate, loden and burgundy.

"I feel gold color, if it's the right shade, can really add to the richness of the other colors when I interpret them together," she said.

But she does it in nontraditional ways.

Tam says her fashion philosophy is steeped in Chinese tradition -- embroidery, for example, is one of the traditional Chinese crafts that Tam uses repeatedly.

She wants to design harmonious clothing that enhances the wearer's personality, both day and evening.

"The whole entire collection is a mix of evening, daytime … because I feel that nowadays people are wearing day and evening all mixed together," she said.

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The Royal Pavilion

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