Thailand International Fashion Week 2025, held at Baiyoke Sky Hotel on August 23 and 24, marked the special presence of Vietnam through the collection “Mong Ho Sac – Dreams of Dong Ho”. Created by Dac Ngoc Designer House in collaboration with Ken Design By Hanh Nguyen, the collection reimagined the folk beauty of Kinh Bac and brought Vietnamese heritage to stride confidently on the global runway.
An international caliber event and the cultural bridge
Thailand International Fashion Week has long been a highly anticipated event in the regional fashion scene, where Bangkok affirms its position as Asia’s creative hub. In 2025, under the founding and leadership of Dr. Chirawan Lewis, the program gathered dozens of brands, fashion houses, and artists from various countries, creating a rich tapestry of contemporary art. More than just a stage for new collections, TIFW is also a forum where culture and fashion find resonance, bringing each nation’s heritage into dialogue with the world.
Held at Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest building in Bangkok, the event offered a unique experience where the audience could admire fashion while overlooking the dazzling panorama of the city. Within that space, “Mong Ho Sac – Dreams of Dong Ho” appeared as a bridge connecting past and present, where Vietnamese identity found its voice on the international stage. The collection became a special highlight on Bangkok’s red carpet, leaving the audience curious, inspired, and deeply moved by the beauty of culture presented in such a modern form.
Legacies of Dong Ho and the inspirations for creativity
For centuries, Dong Ho paintings have been deeply imprinted in Vietnamese cultural memory. With woodblock printing on điệp paper, works such as “Dam cuoi chuot” (Rat’s Wedding), “Em be om ga” (Child Holding a Chicken), and “Vinh hoa – Phu quy” (Prosperity and Honor) were not just wall decorations but carried witty humor, wishes for peace and prosperity, and philosophies of life. It was precisely this simplicity and rich symbolism that inspired Dac Ngoc Designer House and Ken Design By Hanh Nguyen to create the collection “Mong Ho Sac”.
In each design, the spirit of folk paintings is skillfully transformed. Traditional colors of blue, red, yellow, and black are combined with modern materials, highlighting a beauty that feels both familiar and new. The motifs are not mechanically reproduced but stylized to blend into contemporary silhouettes: seams evoking mountain ranges, flowing skirts resembling waves of the Duong River, and hand-embroidered details depicting familiar symbolic animals. All together, they form a captivating visual journey, where each outfit becomes a “moving painting,” carrying the viewer back to rural memories and then immediately transporting them into the global stage.
What makes “Mong Ho Sac” truly captivating is the fusion of artisanal craftsmanship and global fashion thinking. Vietnamese embroidery artisans contributed traditional techniques to every detail, adding cultural depth to the collection. In this way, the Dong Ho heritage is not only preserved but also reborn in a new form, ready to integrate into the contemporary flow.
The horse: Symbol of power and aspiration
The image of the horse became the central highlight throughout the collection. In Dong Ho paintings, horses are tied to vibrant festivals and symbolize wishes for success and prosperity. On the Bangkok runway, the horse appeared through intricate hand-embroidered details, bold cuts reminiscent of galloping hooves, and color tones evoking the glow of twilight over the steppes.
Each design thus stood as both a vivid painting and a symbol of strength, embodying the aspiration to reach out to the world. The horse in “Mong Ho Sac” carried not only aesthetic value but also the spirit of unity and resilience of Vietnamese culture.
Vietnam in the global current
As the models walked under the dazzling lights of Thailand International Fashion Week 2025, “Mong Ho Sac – Dreams of Dong Ho” touched the hearts of the audience with a beauty that was both traditional and modern. Layered gowns in green, red, and yellow, velvet ao dai adorned with exquisite hand embroidery, and velvet coats decorated with motifs of chickens, rats, and horses transformed the Bangkok hall into a moving Dong Ho painting.
Closing the showcase, the collection left not only a powerful visual impression but also spread Vietnamese pride in an international rhythm. It stood as living proof of heritage’s vitality—when placed in the language of modern creativity, Dong Ho rose confidently from a village by the Duong River to stride onto the global runway, shining with brilliance and timelessness.
