Streamers on the runway: Kai Cenat brings his apparel brand to New York Fashion Week

For a recent stream, Kai Cenat traded his famous bedroom setup for a Big Apple catwalk. The Bronx-born creator returned to his hometown during New York Fashion Week (NYFW), when he unveiled the first pieces to emerge from his apparel brand Vivet.

Vivet, named after the Latin verb meaning “to live,” has been in the works for more than a year. During an extended hiatus from his blockbuster Twitch account, Cenat traveled to Italy to meet with expert tailors, and he also consulted with designers in Atlanta. The result is a brand that pairs Cenat’s cocksure sensibilities with the trappings of haute couture.

Collection I, the Vivet drop that debuted at an NYFW event, is the result of Cenat’s deep dive into the fashion world. An overarching cyberpunk aesthetic and items like a “streaming backpack” allude to Cenat’s roots, while the prices — most of which are in three-digit territory — remind customers that Vivet has luxury in its DNA.

In true Kai Cenat fashion, the launch event for Vivet was as much of a spectacle as the pieces on display. The personnel walking the runway included some of Cenat’s longtime streaming chums, like Ray Asianboy

, BruceDropEmOff, and fellow AMP member Duke Dennis. They were joined by fashion industry royalty like Alton Mason, who was the first Black male model to walk for Chanel. Attendees at the show included neo-soul icon Ms. Lauryn Hill and streamer PlaqueBoyMax.

Vivet represents not only the next step on Cenat’s pop culture path but also the evolution of creator-led activations at NYFW. Once upon a time, beauty and fashion vloggers made noise by walking in shows hosted by legacy brands. Over time, however, platforms like YouTube and startups like College Fashionista carved out dedicated spaces for creators at the most important events on the fashion calendar.

Fast forward to the present day, and creators are now launching their own clothing capsules and apparel lines, which are being put on display at industry events like Theorist’s Creators in Fashion. Cenat, whose recent return to Streamer University reminded the world about his star power, is the perfect person to bring the creator economy’s apparel trend to the mainstream fashion world.

NYFW gave Cenat the opportunity to show what he has been working on. Vivet’s name is meant to express his desire to live his life with full conviction, and by strutting down the catwalk in front of a high-profile crowd, he showed what that bold form of expression looks like.