Quest for the Ultimate Ao Dai!!: Fancy Local designers?

If you fancy a Vietnamese designer to help you with your áo dài , I do have two personal favourites.

For anyone who wants a traditional áo dài but with a modern artistic twist, Sĩ Hoàng is the person to go to. His designs are modern but yet retain the “spirit” of the charm, sophistication and simple beauty of the áo dài. His passion in the Vietnamese culture is reflected in his involvement in the costume design work for the traditional Cải Lương opera. There is also much infusion of the ethnic minority costume designs of Vietnam. So if you are into such design, Sĩ Hoàng provides a good balance between the traditional and the modern.

Đặng Thị Minh Hạnh, the director of the Vietnam Fashion Design Institute is the first Vietnamese designer to be awarded an international prize. Her designs, hybrids of modern and traditional ao dai have been shown in fashion fairs in Paris, Belgium, Italy and Japan. So if you wish to engage a designer who is highly attuned to the most current and fashionable trends on the international scene, Minh Hạnh will be the natural choice. Below are examples of her designs.