A fashion show was held at Disa Space in Hanoi on December 13, introducing creative adaption of traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai, by Italian and Vietnamese designers.
Vietnamese designer Vu Lan Anh and Italian designer Maria Elena Di Terlizzi introduce their Ao Dai creations at the show (Photo courtesy of Vu Lan Anh)
The show was staged within the launch of Disa Space, which is designed to continue the journey of exchange of fashion between Vietnam and Italy.
The inauguration of the space is part of the ‘Ao Dai Heritage – Culture of Love’ project, which is hosted by the Golden Heritage Group, the Italian Embassy in Vietnam, the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy, and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ICHAM) to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations (1973-2023).
The project aims to boost cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Italy through the cooperation of the two countries' designers, and promote the Ao Dai heritage in the international fashion market, while applying the quintessence of Italian technology to the making of the Vietnamese traditional long dress.
Under the project, Italian designer Maria Elena Di Terlizzi will create a collection of 60 Ao Dai designs for festivals, work and daily life. Her first 15 designs of the collection were released on the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day (October 10) and received much interest from fashion lovers.
The show in Disa Space introduced her 10 designs, which previously hit the runway in Italy in November.
While expressing her happiness to return to Vietnam and introduce her new designs, Elena Di Terlizzi said that the designs she created were inspired by the costumes of Vietnamese emperors and empresses. However, during the making of her Ao Dai, she adjusted the form of the Ao Dai and utilise Italian materials to make it more comfortable and give the traditional outfit a more youthful, modern, and convenient appeal.
The Italian designer’s Ao Dai features a clear connection between Vietnamese and European cultures and is imbued with both modern and Vietnamese identities.
The show also featured the Ao Dai collection of Vietnamese designer Vu Lan Anh – the owner of the Lasen Vu fashion brand. Entitled ‘Daisies and the Sun’, the collection was tailored for a wedding ceremony, with designs created with bold traditional Vietnamese culture, which can be seen through motifs and images of Vietnamese cultural heritage and crafts such as bronze casting, jewellery making, and embroidery.
Italian and Vietnamese designers introduce creative adaption of Ao Dai (Photo courtesy of Vu Lan Anh)
Speaking at the event, Lan Anh said that it was an honour for her to be invited to join the project, which provided her with an opportunity to work with an international designer to honour the Vietnamese cultural heritage and Vietnamese Ao Dai in particular.
She also gave pretty compliments to Maria Elena Di Terlizzi, hailing that the Italian designer’s Ao Dai collection revealed her considerable knowledge and experience of Vietnamese culture while providing a fresh vitality to the Vietnamese traditional long dress.
She voiced her hope to collaborate with designer Elena Di Terlizzi, in jointly creating an Ao Dai collection which blends bold Vietnamese and Italian cultural and fashion characteristics.
The ‘Ao Dai Heritage – Culture of Love’ project aims to boost cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Italy through the cooperation of the two countries' designers, and promote the Ao Dai heritage in the international fashion market.