Vivienne Tam Spring 2010 Collection: Butterfly Inspiration

With NY Fashion Week starting today showcasing the latest in Fall 2010 gear, I thought it would be fun to share some creative inspiration from the fashion world today. Last fall, I had the privilege to attend a few fashion shows in Bryant Park. One of my fondest memories was my experience at the Vivienne Tam Spring 2010 Collection and after party where I got a chance to meet Vivienne herself. Her fashion show in the large tent in Bryant Park still brings me continuous inspiration as we all start to thing of spring and sewing ourselves some cute spring/summer dresses. Her fashion show was a great example of how she creatively used one theme and carried it throughout everything in her collection and beyond.

The show centered around the theme of “Butterfly Lovers“, a Chinese tale of freedom and romance that dates back to the Tang Dynasty, much like a Chinese version of “Romeo and Juliet.” The lovers transform into butterflies to live together ever after.Chinese love story a la Romeo and Juliet. What inspired me throughout the show was the art of butterfly that was present throughout the collection. It went from beautiful and bold butterfly prints to something more subtle, flowy chiffon printed with microscopic butterfly wings. Vivienne brought out every beautiful detail of the butterfly and expressed them with with fabric, cut outs, sequins, and even technology — matching her butterfly pattern to her new Vivienne Tam HP Clutch (pictured at top, available this spring).
See more of my favorites from the collection after the jump!

I loved the idea of taking the butterfly shape and create a sort of lace pattern with it in the pale purple dress, as well as using it as a subtle detail in the yellow dress.

Here Vivienne gets a bit more creative using cut-designs in the dress to mimic butterfly wings and the microscopic detail of a butterfly wing that looks effortlessly watercolored onto silk fabric.

I love the bold pattern that’s contrasted by the flowy chiffon and whimsical touch of butterflies on black sequins.

These process shots of Vivienne working on the collection shows all the various butterfly patterns and combinations for her fabric prints. I would have loved to checked out her studio and inspiration wall!

The new Vivienne Tam HP Clutch continues her Butterfly Lovers theme into technology. I love the soft print and colors of the butterflies you never see on tech goods. Typically colors are stronger and bolder so I love how she brings a beautiful feminine touch to computing.

And the hightlight of Fashion Week for me was to meet a truly inspirational female designer, Vivienne Tam!
Photos: Style.com, Flickr and Coquette