{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O107721"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107721/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BD0047/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BD0047/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BD0047","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O107721","accessionNumber":"FE.44:1, 2-1998","objectType":"Dress","titles":[{"title":"Mao collection","type":"named collection"}],"summaryDescription":"This printed nylon mesh woman's dress formed part of the 'Mao collection' of the spring/summer 1995 fashion collection of Chinese-born designer Vivienne Tam. The collection was inspired in part by the early 1990s Political Pop Art Movement in China. The designer collaborated with the Chinese born, New York based artist Zhang Hongtu to create the dress and T-shirts.\n\r\nIts design consists of repeated images of Chairman Mao who was the leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. After his death, Mao became a pop icon and his face was used by artists and designers, both in China and elsewhere.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Knitted dress and underslip for a woman, printed with a check pattern of humorous pictures of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), who was a Chinese communist leader and founder of the People's Republic of China. The portraits show Mao in pigtails and wearing gingham dress; with a bee on his nose; wearing a Christian ecclesiastical collar; and wearing sunglasses.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Tam, Vivienne","id":"A5809"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"nylon","id":"AAT14462"}],"techniques":[{"text":"knitted","id":"AAT53634"},{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Polychrome knitted and printed nylon mesh","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2006BD0047"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"RA001","id":"THES394906"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"RA001","id":"THES394906"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":""}],[{"text":"Underslip","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Hong Kong","id":"x30049"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1995","earliest":"1995-01-01","latest":"1995-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1998","earliest":"1998-01-01","latest":"1998-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the designer","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"130","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"dress","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"133","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"slip","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Vivienne Tam, a Guangzhou-born and Hong Kong-educated, Chinese fashion designer working in New York, introduced distinctively Chinese imagery into her designs from the 1990s. The V&A acquired several pieces from Tam's 'Mao Collection' of spring, 1995.  Pictures of Mao Zedong were ubiquitous during his lifetime and, after his death in 1976, they persisted.  Some were worked anew and used in contexts that were sometimes controversial and contradictory.   Vivienne Tam collaborated with Zhang Hongtu, an artist who first depicted Mao in his paintings in 1987.  She emblazoned the Chairman's features onto coloured T-shirts and dresses.  The dress here gives a new twist to the image of Mao.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Dress and underslip, polychrome knitted and printed nylon mesh, designed by Vivienne Tam, Hong Kong, spring/summer 1995 collection, made in 1998","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Geremie R. Barmé. <u>Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader</u> Armonk, NY: M.E.Sharpe, 1996"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Valerie Steele and John S. Major (eds.). <u>China Chic: East Meets West</u>. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999, plate 1, pp. 89-91."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Vivienne Tam with Martha Huang. <u>China Chic</u>. New York: Regan Books, 2000"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Ready to wear","id":"THES48866"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["FE.44:1-1998","FE.44:2-1998"],"accessionNumberNum":"44","accessionNumberPrefix":"FE","accessionYear":1998,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Dress","Underslip"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-04","recordCreationDate":"2004-12-09","availableToBook":false}}