Identity and value of Vietnamese Ao Dai

Vietnamese culture permeates every detail

For many years, designer Vu Lan Anh has been working hard to create many ao dai collections that depict the culture, country, and people of Vietnam on each ao dai. Therefore, every time she sets foot in a new land, she researches and learns about the traditional cultural characteristics of the nation to incorporate into her ao dai designs.

On the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Women's Union (October 20, 1930/October 20, 2023) this year, designer Vu Lan Anh launched the ao dai collections "Tram ngu lac nhan" and "Non song mot doi".

Designer Vu Lan Anh (middle) and models in the ao dai collection “Non song mot doi”. Photo provided by the character

The collection is inspired by the legend of fairies descending to earth on a deserted, pristine beach with beautiful scenery. The collection "Tram Ngu Lac Nhan" is designed based on the traditional Ao Dai shape but is stylized in a romantic and airy way, depicting the beauty of fairies and praising the beauty of nature. With the main materials of transparent fabric and sequin fabric, creating a soft, graceful and sparkling fragility. The main pastel color scheme is gently transformed, the creamy pink of the smooth white sand, the blue of the ocean, the pale yellow and purple of the long sunset... The cup-cut details create a graceful figure, the flowing Ao Dai tails let the viewer immerse themselves in a dreamlike scene.

Designer Vu Lan Anh said that the special feature of the collection is the image of fairies - an extremely unique artistic theme in Vietnamese sculpture in the 17th and 18th centuries, expressing the strong desire for a peaceful and prosperous life and the desire to conquer nature of the Vietnamese people.

Through the collection, the designer wishes to honor the Vietnamese Ao Dai, which is not only beautiful, graceful, and traditional, but also modern; a testament to its dynamism, its integration with world culture, and its expression in the trend of international integration.

“Ao dai is not only beautiful for Vietnamese women, but also for foreign women when wearing it, it also enhances the beauty of the dress and the figure. The important thing is that the designer knows how to control the proportions, based on the traditional shape of the ao dai but with reasonable cuts, diverse materials, creating solid and hollow pieces, rich shapes, both enhancing the body's curves and creating a modern, dynamic and universal look. I think this is also the mission of designers on the journey to preserve and promote the ao dai - promoting Vietnamese culture to the world because the ao dai is not only a dress but also a cultural symbol of the nation", designer Vu Lan Anh shared.

The collection "Non song mot doi" in the program of Hanoi Tourism Ao Dai Festival 2023 held at Hoan Kiem Lake in mid-October this year, designer Vu Lan Anh introduced the collection "Non song mot doi" including Ao Dai designs symbolizing the three regions of North-Central-South. The collection is inspired by the main honoring of the beauty of Vietnamese women, the traditional Ao Dai and brings to the festival the image of Ao Dai of the three regions.

Weaving new cultural colors into the ao dai

Costumes are the earliest cultural products of mankind. Costumes change over the course of historical development, bearing the distinctive features and quintessence of the nation, so that when we look at the way they dress, we can identify which nation they belong to.

Designs in the “Tram ngu lac nhan” ao dai collection. Photo provided by the character

From the ao dai, many designers have affirmed their role through creative research, contributing to creating a new color for modern culture; or from another perspective, we can see changes in concepts as well as cultural and social exchanges, especially the exchange with international fashion today, which has greatly impacted the Vietnamese fashion industry.

In the context of global exchange and integration, the Vietnamese ao dai has undergone many changes, improvements, and upgrades in terms of materials, designs, colors, patterns, etc. to become increasingly more sexy, sophisticated, and attractive.

Speaking about the value of the Vietnamese ao dai, Professor, Dr. Tu Thi Loan, Chairwoman of the Council of Science and Training, Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, said: Ao dai is a typical costume of Vietnamese women, with its own history, at least since the 17th century, during the reign of King Vu Vuong Nguyen Phuc Khoat. The five-panel ao dai and its later development represent the "national character", the independent spirit of Vietnamese culture, different and independent from other cultures. Ao dai is inherited and developed from the four-panel ao dai to the five-panel ao dai, through changes and upgrades, completely different from the cheongsam and ao dai of the Cham people...

“When wearing Ao Dai, women stand out more with their feminine, seductive beauty, “covered but revealing”, sexy but not revealing. Each Ao Dai costume demonstrates the ingenuity and endless creativity of Vietnamese designers and stylists”, said Professor, Dr. Tu Thi Loan.

Although it has gone through many different stages in the process of cultural exchange and integration between East and West, the Ao Dai has always maintained its own identity. No matter how much fashion develops, in each continent and each country, no one can deny the unique identity of culture, customs and characteristics of the indigenous people.

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