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Fashion Week Asia: KILOMET109 Has a Beautiful Story to Tell About Vietnam

With indigenous communities contributing to her latest collection, KILOMET109’s Thao Vu shares the Vietnam she knows through its textiles and creative spirit.

By Anya Oxyn 2 hours ago

If there’s one person who would gladly introduce you to Vietnam through its textiles, it’s KILOMET109’s Thao Vu. The designer speaks fondly of the country’s mountains, caves, and vast rivers, as well as the artisans whose skills have been passed through generations. For Fashion Week Asia, she brings their work together in Quyên, a collection named after a bird that appears in Vietnamese folklore, particularly in the Mekong Delta. Among the indigenous communities involved are Khmer artisans, whose double ikatIkatA textile technique in which threads are tie-dyed before being woven, producing bold patterns with softly blurred edges. Found across Southeast Asia, including Philippine weaves, ikat is valued for itsGo to Ikat Glossary weaving makes its first appearance in her lineup.

Richly textured fabrics take on generous layers, asymmetrical cuts, and bias-cut silhouettes that follow the body with ease. Behind them are Vietnamese weavers, natural dyers, batik artisans, and seamstresses, with the entire production process taking place locally.

“I really want to introduce the cultural part of Vietnam, the heritage part of Vietnam, but through the lens of contemporary design,” Vu tells MEGA. Through the designer’s vision, their techniques find new expression in garments with a distinctly modern sensibility.

“With this collection, I hope you see Vietnam through a more modern perspective—a place filled with new ideas, innovation, and an exciting clothing scene.”
—THAO VU

Vu has also found much to admire in Manila. Having arrived for Fashion Week Asia with concerns about fitting models she’d only seen in photographs, she was pleasantly surprised by the local team’s efficiency. “I thought I was going to do ironing while fitting a model, but I ended up just pointing fingers,” she laughs. Everything went so smoothly that she returned to her hotel and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

“You care about the clothing culture, not just the fashion business,” she says appreciatively. Wherever she goes, Vu recognizes the people whose hands make fashion possible.

Photos courtesy of FASHION WEEK ASIA. Photographed by EXCEL PANLAQUE of KLIQ INC.

Anya Oxyn

Senior Fashion Writer

Formerly a stylist who immersed herself intimately within the Philippine fashion circuit for over three years, Anya has refined her transformative, hands-on experience into an insightful voice for MEGA Asia as a Senior Fashion Writer.

Her editorial pursuit possesses three facets: her time as an essayist during her education at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, her extensive experience in digital media and strategic storytelling, and her belief that fashion has a beating heart deeply intertwined with art, culture, society, and humanity itself that is worth uncovering.

Anya’s versatile pen spans a dynamic range of subjects, including emerging local designers, global luxury houses, beauty trends, film and television fashion analysis, cultural op-eds, major events, and beyond.

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