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| The flowing panels of the blue ao-dai, evoking the Huong River, accented with lotus blossoms, drifting clouds, and royal motifs, reflect the connection between people and the cultural heritage of the former Imperial Capital |
A love for Ao-dai
Tran Thien Khanh came to fashion naturally. He has always had a deep love for ao-dai. “Ao-dai is more than just a garment; it carries with it the culture, memories, and soul of the Vietnamese people,” he shared.
Ao-dai has become Tran Thien Khanh’s creative language. Rather than treating each design simply as a fashion piece, he uses it to tell a story, sometimes about Hue, sometimes about the royal culture, and sometimes about the images associated with Vietnamese women.
In 2015, when he first took ao-dai Vietnam to the UK, he realized that the garment could reach beyond borders. A year later, his ‘Huyen Bi Phuong Dong’ (Mysteries of the East) collection at Hue Ao-Dai Festival gave him a clearer direction for a style rooted in the imperial court setting. In 2024, the ‘Thuong’ (Cherishing) show marked his 20th year in the profession. However, when asked which milestone meant the most to him, he chose ‘Huong Ky Uc’. This time, he brought to the stage the stories of mothers in the most complete way.
In ‘Huong Ky Uc’, Tran Thien Khanh chose not to draw strange or grand symbols. Instead, he turned to the mother’s hands, baskets of loc cakes, and the everyday life of a Hue family. For him, these were the images that remained most vivid in his memory: the mother’s hands quietly expressing love and cherishing the simple days to raise her children. He began with emotion, then transformed it into colors, fabrics, lines, and evocative images.
This approach was also reflected in the choice of fabrics and silhouettes. “Huong Ky Uc” was crafted in silk and built on traditional ao-dai silhouettes, with motifs interpreted through suggestion and impression rather than literal depiction. If ‘Huong Ky Uc’ represented a return to childhood, ‘Lam Ngoc’ marked the next chapter of that journey. The blue hues of the Huong River paired with lotus blossoms, drifting clouds, and lines inspired by the imperial court, creating a vision of Hue through the eyes of a mature person. Khanh said he intentionally conceived the two collections as a continuous emotional narrative, from childhood, family, and memories of the mother to a grown child who has worked far from home but still carries his homeland with him wherever he goes.
The farther we go, the closer Hue is in our heart
From the stages in the UK, the United States, and Canada to performances at home, Khanh has gained a clearer appreciation of values that once seemed so familiar: the quiet presence of the Perfume River, the refined elegance of imperial spaces, and the gentleness of everyday life. “Hue is not something I need to keep searching for; it is something I carry with me wherever I go,” he said. Perhaps this is why the essence of Hue in Tran Thien Khanh’s ao-dai is expressed through softness, mitigation, and an ability to evoke emotion.
More importantly, every design needs a story of its own. That is why the ‘Huong Ky Uc’ show goes beyond a new fashion show in Tran Thien Khanh’s creative journey. It is a moment for the designer to turn inward and look back to where it all began, to the people who have been part of his journey, and to the seemingly little things that, in the end, stay with him the longest.
The show took place during the Vu Lan (Ullambana) season, which was also his mother’s birthday month. For Khanh, the show was never meant to be remembered simply for its beautiful ao-dai. He hoped that, when the final look had left the runway, audiences would take a moment to reflect on their mothers and the places they call home.
Having once approached fashion simply as a way to create gorgeous designs, Tran Thien Khanh now considers the ao-dai a way for something more: stories of Hue, of Vietnam, and of the memories we carry with us. Looking ahead, he wants to take Hue’s cultural stories further, allowing the beauty of the Former Ancient Capital to be discovered not only in its landscapes, but also in the graceful movement of every panel of the ao-dai.