When world beauties wear Vietnamese traditional costumes
At the program "Miss Cosmo 2024", Nguyen Lai Y Cuu collection in Ao Dai Show - Best of Vietnam Exhibition, Nguyen Duc Loc brought ancient costumes of Y Van Hien to the public through the performance of beauties representing countries around the world.
“Nguyen Lai Y Cuu” with designs reconstructed from noble historical documents of the Nguyen Dynasty. All works are hand-embroidered under the guidance of experts and artisans from traditional craft villages. Girls from 20 countries when performing Vietnamese traditional costumes by Y Van Hien at "Miss Cosmo 2024" had excellent charisma.
Nguyen Duc Loc shared: "I feel extremely proud to witness the historical reconstructions of the Vietnamese people being performed at a major event and being enthusiastically received by everyone."
With meticulousness and carefulness, the ancient costumes that Loc creatively designs always go hand in hand with two elements of historical culture and fashion aesthetics, each stitch with very clear and sharp patterns. That is the special point of Y Van Hien.
The 9X guy's Vietnamese traditional costumes have made new strides. The Beauty of Vietnam 2024 - 2025 project, Nguyen Duc Loc continues to affirm his name when taking on the position of Ambassador for Promoting Vietnamese Culture. Although still quite young in the field of research on Vietnamese Culture, Loc's contributions have contributed to creating a trend towards traditional costumes that has become stronger among young people.
Some cultural exchange events are using Y Van Hien's traditional costumes such as: Exhibition "The Ink Pen Still Fragrant", reportage about "Hai Phong Tru Ca Phuong"... Or the Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh Beauty contest, MVs of Vietnamese artists all choose Vietnamese traditional costumes.
Start from scratch
After a year working as a cameraman for a famous TV station, Loc decided to quit his job and this was a major turning point in his life. During a trip to film a report on ancient artifacts, the young man was initially only interested but gradually became passionate and had the ambition to bring traditional costumes to the public.
“I am a History major, my family has a tradition of tailoring, and I also love fashion... From then on, I was determined to devote all my heart, time, and money to improving my knowledge of this ancient costume field.
At that time, information about royal costumes or folk costumes was very difficult to find. There was not much information on the Internet, so I had to learn Han Nom, go to libraries and historical institutes to find more information. I met many historical research experts to improve my knowledge about the culture and special features of costumes at that time" - Nguyen Duc Loc shared.
The deeper he researched, the greater his love for Vietnamese traditional costumes became. There were times of discouragement and ups and downs in the start-up phase, but the young man with great ambition overcame them and gradually affirmed that the path he had chosen was the right one.
In early 2018, the brand Y Van Hien was born with the hope that this would be the place to "give wings" to ancient Vietnamese costumes, bringing ancient costumes to a wide audience, especially today's youth.
After 2 years of establishment, Y Van Hien's name has been increasingly affirmed in the Vietnamese fashion industry. Not following trends, not chasing profits, Loc chooses "slow but sure", putting passion and meticulousness into each product.
Up to now, Nguyen Duc Loc has created more than 1,000 ancient costumes, from dragon robes and phoenix robes for kings and queens to costumes for concubines, princesses, mandarins, and commoners... Duc Loc has continuously released collections of 5-panel ao dai, Giao Linh ao dai, Nhat Binh ao dai... and received much praise and love.
Founder of Y Van Hien shared: “Many people ask me why I don’t call for capital, why I don’t open more branches to develop better when I’m famous. But for me, culture and profit cannot be quickly profitable. Because for me, each product is my brainchild, and I put a lot of heart into it. The time to create a set of folk costumes or royal costumes is calculated in weeks, some sets take several months. Each line and pattern must be precise and meticulous.”
Vietnamese traditional costumes reach out to the world
After more than 6 years of establishment, Nguyen Duc Loc's Y Van Hien has become a famous place for restoring and designing traditional costumes not only in Hanoi but also in the country. Vietnamese traditional costumes are appearing more and more in music projects, films or cultural conferences. Y Van Hien has appeared in the movie "Phuong Khau", MV of singer Hoa Minzy, contest "Miss Cosmo"...
Nguyen Duc Loc expressed: “I do not restore ancient costumes to display in museums or for simple research. My wish is to introduce and promote the beauty of ancient costumes to a wider public. First is the domestic market and in the future will expand internationally through exhibitions, cultural exchange programs...”.
China is famous for its luxurious royal robes, and when mentioning Korea, people immediately think of the traditional Hanbok costume. Nguyen Duc Loc's dream is that when mentioning Vietnam, everyone can know how beautiful and sophisticated the traditional Vietnamese costume is.
Wearing traditional Vietnamese costumes not only preserves traditional values but is also a "means" of cultural diplomacy, a type of costume that contains a rich history, artistic aesthetics, and national spirit of the Vietnamese people.
With the trend of many young people choosing ancient fashion, more and more customers are coming to buy ancient costumes, from students, international students, to actors, models, singers, businessmen, diplomats, ambassadors... And there are also young people coming to order ancient costumes for their weddings.
"I am very happy that more and more people know about Vietnamese traditional costumes, especially young people. That shows that the path I have chosen to pursue is the right one. In the future, I will continue to bring the most beautiful and unique costumes to the public. My next goal is to reach the international market by bringing my traditional costumes to participate in and display at international exhibitions and fairs; promoting through embassies... I believe that, with my tireless efforts, one day not far away, Vietnamese traditional costumes will be spread to international friends" - Nguyen Duc Loc shared.
The young man's journey of "breathing fire" into Vietnamese traditional costumes has yielded results, however, Loc always determines that the path to success still has many thorns and challenges waiting ahead.
