Viviano (Q3652)
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Viviano is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Viviano |
Viviano is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Viviano’s spring show opened with a funereal procession of sharply black tailored blazers, coats, bralettes and skirts, many of which had been adorned with black roses. The flounce of dress-up-box tulle and richly layered ruffles that the brand has made a signature emerged more as the show went on (most notably in a giant green dress that looked like the kind of thing Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus might wear if he were a drag queen) but largely this collection was one rooted in restraint—at least in the Viviano universe.It unfolded throughout the sunlit corridors of Tokyo’s Ogasawara-Hakushaku-Tei, a Spanish-style former Count’s residence that fit the swooning romance of Viviano’s mood to a tee; “La Vie En Rose” played over the speakers for the finale as all the models filed out to the gardens outside, the grassy greens of the tulle interspersed with mint sequins, candy pink, lilac ruffles and the closing lily-white bridal look, making up a human bouquet on the lawn.“We put so much work into this season, and as I was working I realized that fashion and gardening are the same,” designer Viviano Sue explained after the show. “It’s about putting love into the plants and the flowers so that they grow and bloom.” He called the collection “My Garden” and intended it as a message of love and acceptance: “It’s a celebration of women, no matter who you are or where you’re from or how you’re raised.”Sue’s mind has been focused on growth in other ways, too. Viviano is steadily building its fanbase with each season, and launched its first menswear collection this summer to let the boys get in on some of the fun, frills and all. Speaking about the stream of sable at the start of today’s show, Sue explained that it was intended to reflect a kind of coming of age for the brand. “Why we put the black first, and the tighter skirts and shapes, is because they’re a little bit more adult than what we’ve shown before,” he remarked. “We wanted to make the point that Viviano is not just a cute girl anymore! We’re growing up. And we are fierce.”
6 September 2024
Viviano Sue’s fall collection was a personal reckoning for the designer and the diasporic identity he’s spent his adult life grappling with. With a childhood fractured between the US, China, and Japan, Sue spoke of how he’d never felt like he belonged anywhere and struggled to find his community.Fast-forward to now, and Sue has built his own community here in Tokyo, the city he now finally calls home. Every season his front row is packed with a brightly dressed gaggle of celebrities, influencers, and superfans who beg to come to his shows and put on their flounciest Viviano getups to do so. Tonight there were more of them than ever; the pressure was on.“I’ve never done a collection as personal as this before,” he said after the show, which unfolded in the carpeted corridors of a neo-Baroque manor house on the grounds of the Grand Prince Hotel. “It’s about looking back at when I was little and the things and people that surrounded me in Shanghai—hearing my mom and my auntie talking in English and Cantonese, the lace, all of the things that surrounded me at the time. Sometimes memories can feel even fresher than the things we see in front of us right now.”Those memories came through in the blue-and-white prints on the quilted dresses that recalled Chinese porcelain, the tassels that dangled from pankou fastenings, and the rich red and black lace that simultaneously exposed and suffocated. Viviano’s signature tulle, saccharine colors, and polka-dot hearts made their usual appearance, but it was in the darker moments that the collection thrived. Delving into that murky emotional territory clearly took some bravery from Sue, and it paid off. “I wasn’t a happy child at all,” he smiled. “But I’m happy now.”
12 March 2024
Viviano Sue makes clothes that are unapologetically fun and flouncy, and his shows always draw a candy shop of brightly dressed devotees (many of them influencers), which makes the crowd-watching almost as visually stimulating as the collections he shows.Speaking after this one, which marked the last physical runway of this season’s Tokyo calendar, he shared some background on where his particular brand of frivolity comes from: “I’m a Chinese boy that grew up in America and my father was quite traditional. I was always told what I should and shouldn’t do as a kid, but… I just don’t feel that right now! We need to be more free, and we should wear anything we want. If you feel confident and comfortable, you should show people.”His collection this time was inspired by the 1967 French musicalThe Young Girls of Rochefort, and thus featured a hippyish color palette that recalled Catherine Deneuve’s canary yellow dress complemented by pastel pinks and seaside blues, while nautical references to Jacques Perrin’s sailor costume came through in the dixie cups and flap collars. Flamingo flower prints covered peplum dresses and baseball caps, and the brand’s go-to tulle sprouted from tough-looking bomber jackets, denim blazers, and sheer frilly coats.Occasionally it feels like Viviano’s sugariness could do with some more spice—dessert is the fun part, but you don’t want it for every course. Then again, Sue’s message is so relentlessly positive, and he’s so generous with his joy, that resistance is futile. “After Covid, I felt like the world got really dark, and I think now we just have to enjoy the moment because we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” he said. “We’re making these clothes to make people happy, to spread that joy.” As the models skipped down the runway hand-in-hand for the finale, grinning in their bright and sparkly dresses, it lifted the spirit. Even after a long week of shows, it was impossible not to smile along.
3 September 2023
“We wanted it to feel wearable. People might think the tulle is really costumey, but we want to make it more everyday.” So said designer Viviano Sue following his show at Shibuya’s Hikarie Hall. Sue’s thing is creating saccharine statement pieces worthy of aDrag Racerunway that speak to the fantasy of dressing up because you damn well want to.This time he was out to bring more love into the world, and so hearts were smattered over print dresses or incorporated cleverly into quilting detail on hot pink coats, and floral-print carpetbag jackets had sleeves studded with heart-shaped golden buttons. The brand’s signature tulle burst from tailored pieces, spilling out into skirts or sprouting from hoodies in flurries of pink, coral, and black. Giant Pierrot collars tugged on those dress-up box elements, and stompy combat boots served to bring everything down to earth.If clicking through the runway images raises any doubts about the wearability the designer was going for, you should have seen the front row. Packed with Tokyo glitterati dressed in Sue’s work and resembling pieces of colorful candy, it was proof of the young designer’s allure.
15 March 2023