Fashion brand VLOV has announced the release of their first NFT collection by founder Qingqing Wu, which is inspired by their collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Mr. Wu was the head designer of the official commemorative outfits for major world leaders attending the 2014 APEC, and the VLOV NFT collection will be 3400 unique videos created with digitized versions of his original creations. VLOV NFT holders will have the exclusive benefit of ordering personalized physical versions of the fashion design featured in their NFT, as worn by an APEC world leader.
“Now more than ever, we feel the need to create meaningful projects with positive social impact and strong core values.” VLOV’s Wu explains, “We have always identified with APEC’s mission to promote equality, international cooperation and social responsibility, and were honored to be tasked with creating a collection that would reflect those values. We hope this NFT series based on our designs for APEC can inspire a continued conversation around these topics with a wider audience.“ In keeping with this mission, Wu plans to donate 30% of the proceeds from the public sale of VLOV’s NFT collection to support emerging visual artists with demonstrated interest in social causes.
In 2014, Wu custom designed 34 outfits for each attending head of state and their spouse hailing from APEC’s 21 participating nations, including the US and China, and dubbed the series “New Chinese Dress.”
(Former US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan attend the 2014 APEC in VLOV Qingqing Wu original designs.)
As the VLOV team was completing the first 1000 NFTs of the series for public release, including the custom designs for former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Indonesian President Joko Widoo, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and their spouses, they were devastated by the tragedy of Mr. Abe’s sudden passing. After careful consideration, the team decided the best way they could honor his legacy is to continue with the release of the NFT collection, including artworks created from designs made for Mr. Abe and his wife, Akie Abe.
(State leaders taking the customary APEC “family photo” at the 2014 forum dressed in VLOV Qingqing Wu designs.)
The inspiration for this NFT collection comes from the Taoist teaching, “Goodness is a virtue modeled after water; water benefits all things and does not compete”. This collection adopts many traditional elements of Chinese culture and brings the past into the present. The combining of Chinese and Western styles of fashion design creates an unprecedented hybrid aesthetic while celebrating the uniqueness of individual styles. This collection adopts stand-up mandarin collars, a pair of open plackets, raglan sleeves, jacquard embroidered patterns, and Song Dynasty brocade aesthetics. The symbolic colors used include imperial Forbidden City red, peacock azure, deep amethyst and golden bronze. The fabric is jacquard made of traditional silk and Zhang satin. The surface designs are inspired by classical patterns of majestic seawaves and river gorges representing the harmonious interdependence of APEC’s 21 economies, watching over and helping each other. The styles reflect the aesthetic style of the “amorphous elephant, large, plain and simple.
Qingqing Wu founded leading lifestyle fashion brand VLOV and was awarded the 2009 China Fashion Week’s ‘Menswear Design Award’. Wu is regarded as one of China’s top fashion designers, having been consistently named among China Fashion Week’s Top Ten Fashion Designers. VLOV previously presented his collections at Lincoln Center for Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week with critically acclaimed collections modeled by some of the industry’s top male talents including Sean O’Pry, Clement Chabernaud, Simone Nobili, Simon van Meervenne, River Viiperi, James Smith, and Sebastien Sauve. Today Qingqing Wu is taking his brand into the metaverse with expressive and purposeful digital fashion designed for the future with plans to return to NYFW digitally in 2023.
The VLOV NFT collection will consist of 100 limited editions of digital fashion looks for each head of state and their spouse, each with a different background landscape inspired by traditional Chinese ink painting, for a total of 3400 unique NFT artworks. The collection will be released in multiple stages, with the first release for public sale on Open Sea going for 1 – 1.5 ETH. Wu has also revealed that he is in talks to collaborate with prominent artists and widely loved sports stars to release limited edition NFTs. Owners of VLOV’s NFT collection will received airdropped whitelists for their future projects.
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With love,
FWO
