Houses / Vietnam
Vietnamese fashion designers to know
Vietnamese fashion runs from Phan Huy, the first Vietnamese designer on the official Paris Haute Couture calendar, and New York’s Peter Do and Bach Mai to áo dài masters Minh Hạnh, Sĩ Hoàng and Thủy Nguyễn, natural-dye craft at Kilomet109 and Ho Chi Minh City labels such as GIA Studios and Môi Điên. Every milestone has its source.
How this guide works
What counts, and what we leave out
This is an introduction, not a ranking. We chose ten labels that between them cover Vietnamese couture, ready-to-wear, áo dài and textile heritage, natural-dye craft and designers of Vietnamese birth or heritage working abroad, and that have a public record we could check.
Every milestone links its own source. We left out a well-known designer who is under criminal prosecution, and two whose work has faced copying allegations without a ruling either way. On the official calendars we checked for 2024 to 2026, Phan Huy’s January 2026 Paris couture show was the only one by a designer based in Vietnam.
Facts were checked on 22 October 2026. If you represent one of these labels and see something out of date, send us a correction.
At a glance
The labels at a glance
| Label | Designer | Since | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHAN HUY | Phan Huy, with co-founder Steven Doan | 2023 | Couture and eveningwear: couture eveningwear with hand-stitched floral and beaded work |
| PETER DO | Peter Do | 2018 | Ready-to-wear: precise, tailoring-led womenswear, produced to order |
| Minh Hạnh | Đặng Thị Minh Hạnh | — | Textile heritage: áo dài that brings in the embroidery and cloth of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities |
| Kilomet109 | Vũ Thảo | 2012 | Slow and sustainable: cloth woven, naturally dyed and beeswax-printed with ethnic-minority artisans |
| Thủy Design House | Thủy Nguyễn | 2011 | Textile heritage: áo dài in Vietnamese silk, satin and velvet, drawing on Đông Hồ woodblock prints |
| Sĩ Hoàng | Sĩ Hoàng | — | Textile heritage: hand-painted floral áo dài, and his own áo dài museum |
| Chung Thanh Phong | Chung Thanh Phong | 2013 | Couture and eveningwear: sculptural eveningwear and bridal with intensive hand embroidery |
| GIA Studios | Lâm Gia Khang | 2014 | Ready-to-wear: cut, structure and handwork, with deliberate empty space |
| BACH MAI | Bach Mai | 2019 | Couture and eveningwear: eveningwear and gowns from a New York atelier |
| Môi Điên | Tom Trandt (Trần Minh Đạo) | 2016 | Ready-to-wear: pared-back, fabric-led pieces |
Profiles
Who they are and what they make.
-
Couture and eveningwear · Vietnam
PHAN HUY
Phan Huy, with co-founder Steven Doan
Phan Huy grew up in Nha Trang, and his graduation collection at a Ho Chi Minh City university drew wide attention online, FashionUnited reported. He founded his label with Steven Doan in 2023. In January 2026 he showed couture on the official Paris Haute Couture calendar as a guest of the Fédération, which AFP reported as a first for a Vietnamese designer; his Spring/Summer 2026 collection drew on the Nguyễn dynasty in muslin and tulle.
- Since
- 2023
- Makes
- Haute couture and eveningwear
-
Ready-to-wear · New York
PETER DO
Peter Do
Born in Biên Hòa, Peter Do moved to Philadelphia at 14, studied at FIT and worked at Celine under Phoebe Philo before launching his New York label in 2018, according to the label and the LVMH Prize. He was creative director of Helmut Lang from 2023 until his exit was confirmed in November 2024, and in September 2025 launched PD-168, a lower-priced unisex line.
- Since
- 2018
- Makes
- Womenswear and menswear, and the unisex line PD-168
- Trained
- Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; then Celine under Phoebe Philo, and Derek Lam
-
Textile heritage · Vietnam
Minh Hạnh
Đặng Thị Minh Hạnh
Born in Pleiku in 1961, Minh Hạnh graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University in 1983 and has spent her career combining the áo dài with embroidery and fabrics from Vietnam’s ethnic-minority traditions, and reviving silk weaving, the Fukuoka Prize records. She designed Vietnam Airlines’ cabin uniforms and the costumes leaders wore at the 2006 APEC meetings in Vietnam, and is senior adviser and art director of the Huế Festival.
- Makes
- Áo dài, uniforms and costume, and revival work on silk weaving
- Trained
- Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University (graduated 1983)
-
Slow and sustainable · Hanoi
Kilomet109
Vũ Thảo
Vũ Thảo makes Kilomet109’s clothes from fabric that ethnic-minority artisans in Mai Châu and Cao Bằng weave, dye with natural dyes and print with beeswax, the British Council reported when she won its Young Creative Entrepreneur award in 2014. The Hanoi label exhibited at the London Design Biennale in 2018, and she was an artist in residence at Harvard’s Asia Center in 2024–25.
- Since
- 2012
- Makes
- Clothing made from artisan-woven, naturally dyed textiles
-
Textile heritage · Ho Chi Minh City
Thủy Design House
Thủy Nguyễn
Photo: THUY DESIGN HOUSE, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Born in Hanoi, Thủy Nguyễn studied painting in Ukraine and taught herself fashion before opening her first Ho Chi Minh City store in 2011, Viet Nam News reported. She works in Vietnamese silk, satin and velvet and draws on Đông Hồ woodblock prints; she designed the costumes for the film Cô Ba Sài Gòn (The Tailor) and co-founded The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, which held a retrospective of her work in 2020.
- Since
- 2011
- Makes
- Áo dài and ready-to-wear; film costume
- Trained
- Studied painting in Ukraine; self-taught in fashion
-
Textile heritage · Ho Chi Minh City
Sĩ Hoàng
Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sĩ Hoàng made his first áo dài in 1989, for the Miss Áo Dài contest, and Viet Nam News credits him with popularising hand-painted floral áo dài. In 2014 he opened the Áo Dài Museum in Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City, which marked its tenth anniversary in 2024.
- Makes
- Áo dài
- Trained
- Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts College
-
Couture and eveningwear · Vietnam
Chung Thanh Phong
Born in Đà Nẵng, Chung Thanh Phong launched his label in 2013, VnExpress reported. In May 2023 Fan Bingbing wore his butterfly-shaped dress in mesh and mica at a party during the Cannes Film Festival, and in August 2026 he showed around 100 orchid-inspired couture looks in Ho Chi Minh City, with hand embroidery that took more than six months.
- Since
- 2013
- Makes
- Eveningwear, bridal and couture
-
Ready-to-wear · Vietnam
GIA Studios
Lâm Gia Khang
Lâm Gia Khang won first prize at the Belvé Fashion Design Awards in 2012 and was runner-up on Project Runway in 2013 before founding GIA Studios in 2014, Vietcetera reports. The label, which Tatler Vietnam describes as built on cut, structure and handwork, opened Vietnam International Fashion Week in Hanoi for autumn/winter 2018.
- Since
- 2014
- Makes
- Ready-to-wear and tailoring
- Trained
- London College for Design and Fashion
-
Couture and eveningwear · New York
BACH MAI
Bach Mai
The son of Vietnamese immigrants, raised in Houston, Bach Mai studied at Parsons and worked at Oscar de la Renta and Prabal Gurung and as first design assistant to John Galliano at Maison Margiela before launching his New York label in 2019, PaperCity reports. The CFDA nominated him American Emerging Designer of the Year in 2022.
- Since
- 2019
- Makes
- Eveningwear and ready-to-wear
- Trained
- Parsons; then Oscar de la Renta, Prabal Gurung and Maison Margiela under John Galliano
-
Ready-to-wear · Vietnam
Môi Điên
Tom Trandt (Trần Minh Đạo)
Tom Trandt (Trần Minh Đạo) studied at Parsons and founded Môi Điên in 2016, Tatler Vietnam reports; Vietcetera lists him on Forbes Vietnam’s 30 Under 30 for 2019. The label, known for pared-back, fabric-led pieces, opened Vietnam International Fashion Week in June 2026 with the collection Nguồn.
- Since
- 2016
- Makes
- Ready-to-wear
- Trained
- Parsons
In person
Where to see Vietnamese design in person
Vietnam International Fashion Week, run by MultiMedia JSC, is the main stage: it shows spring/summer in Ho Chi Minh City around June and autumn/winter in Hanoi around November. Its Spring/Summer 2026 edition ran 18–21 June 2026; see the Asia fashion week calendar for the next one.
For áo dài in a museum setting, Sĩ Hoàng’s Áo Dài Museum is in Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City. Several labels here sell from their own stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
More designer guides: South Korean fashion designers to know · Indonesian fashion designers to know · Malaysian fashion designers to know · Thai fashion designers to know · Japanese fashion designers to know · Mexican fashion designers to know · Brazilian fashion designers to know
Sources
Sources
Each milestone above links its own source. These are every page we relied on, checked on the date shown.
Represent one of these labels and spotted an error? Send a correction with a link to the record.
Quick answers
Vietnamese designers, answered
Has a Vietnamese designer shown at Paris Haute Couture Week?
- Yes. Phan Huy showed his Spring/Summer 2026 couture collection on the official Paris calendar on 29 January 2026, as a guest of the Fédération; AFP reported it as a first for a Vietnamese designer.
Is Peter Do Vietnamese?
- Peter Do was born in Biên Hòa, Vietnam, moved to Philadelphia at 14 and runs his label from New York. He won the first LVMH Graduate Prize in 2014 and was creative director of Helmut Lang from 2023 to 2024.
Who are the leading áo dài designers?
- Among those with long public records are Minh Hạnh, who won the Fukuoka Prize for Arts and Culture in 2015, Sĩ Hoàng, who opened the Áo Dài Museum in 2014, and Thủy Nguyễn of Thủy Design House.
When is Vietnam International Fashion Week?
- Twice a year: spring/summer in Ho Chi Minh City around June and autumn/winter in Hanoi around November. The Spring/Summer 2026 edition ran 18–21 June 2026 at the Nguyễn Du Gymnasium in Ho Chi Minh City.
Which Vietnamese label uses natural dyes?
- Kilomet109, founded by Vũ Thảo in Hanoi, makes clothes from cloth that ethnic-minority artisans in Mai Châu and Cao Bằng weave, dye naturally and print with beeswax.