Integrating painting into fashion
In a small corner of Imperial Hotel lies Chiem studio suitable for visitors who seeks distinction and originality in fashion. Most of Chiem’s lovers are international tourists. From ao dai, dresses, scarves and handbags, Chiem's designs use linen, canvas, and silk. Each design is embellished by Ha An Khuong herself with hand embroidery, drawings, and sprinkled colors.
A design by Ha An Khuong
Each of Khuong's products is a unique design that features a subtle blend of painting and fashion. With this amalgamation, Chiem's fashion is a distinct, original, and artistic creation. Each ao dai, dress, jacket, scarf or handbag is a mosaic of tasteful colors.
What makes Chiem’s products stand out is their color sensibility. Ha An Khuong prepared her own color mixture consisting of 50% natural color and 50% partially synthetic. This combination retains the color on the fabric while limiting the use of industrial chemicals in the products.
Gentle and not primarily intended for performing, Chiem's fashion is of high creativity and versatility with mostly cutting-edge yet simple and chic clothing designs, offering its customers a dynamic fashion style. With Chiem, customers find their own identity in each product, reflecting the view of designer Ha An Khuong: “The design of Chiem is fashionable, versatile, and novel. It can be easily combined with accessories, instilling confidence and stylishness into Chiem’s wearers.
An avant-garde originality
Graduated from Fashion Design Department, Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, with many years of experience in designing and styling for famous fashion brands in Ho Chi Minh City, Ha An Khuong has many opportunities for development in this dynamic city. But it was her passion that drew her to the ancient capital. Set in Hue, her designs were characterized with imprints from the land of arts and poetry and with a subtle blend of fashion and fine arts.
Saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan and his daughter An Tran in ao dai designed by Chiem
Khuong shared that the motivation for her to create Chiem fashion brand came after she gave birth to her first child whose doodle at her 8th month filled Khuong with inspiration. Khuong used the piece of fabric her daughter painted on to make the little girl a shirt. It suddenly dawned on her that the beauty of painting can embrace fashion products, which gave way to a fashion brand named after her daughter in 2016, starting with a sewing, embroidery, and painting workshop.
Perhaps thanks to simple and avant-garde innovations in design, along with the simplicity of the color palette shown on each product, Chiem fashion is appealing to visitors, especially those from Japan, Korea, and other European countries.
In addition to applied fashion designs, Ha An Khuong devotes her attention to ao dai fashion, creating a modern ao dai with liberal style and youthful color, suitable for women of all ages in the new age. Khuong confided: "Our designs are not so tight-fitting nor soft and silky, yet the ao dai of Chiem still emulates Vietnamese style in an unconventional way that highlights comfortability and dynamism while still covering body imperfections so everyone can wear. The sleeve is seamless so the wearer can move freely without unbuttoning. Khuong also reformed the traditional ao dai with pieces of painting block or hand embroidery using cotton thread instead of silk thread.”
Many artists, especially violinists, saxophonists, pianists like artist Tran Manh Tuan, Tuan Manh often wear Chiem's ao dai for their music performances.
Ha An Khuong revealed that she would spend a lot of time pursuing ao dai design. Besides hand-painted products, Khuong also has hand-embroidered offerings and will later collaborate with artists to have paintings on her ao dai designs.
Post: Trang Hien – Photo courtesy of the artist.