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This is an excerpt from Designer Spotlight Asia in MEGA’s August 2025 issue
Just last month, Vietnamese label Phan Huy showed its first collection in Paris. The behind-the-scenes video of the brand on TikTok showed Huy, the label’s namesake designer, doing last-minute preparations and bowing at the end of the show with his partner, Steven Doan. The theme of the show was “‘Lost in the Cavern’ and was inspired by Son Doong Cave,” begins Doan.
The Son Doong was first discovered by a local forestman in 1990, who noticed clouds at the entrance and sounds of a river raging from somewhere inside. Huy and Doan brought sounds of dripping water and wind onto the Parisian runway, along with natural textures, muted colors and sculptural elements in its clothing. Huy says that the show “felt like opening a portal into Vietnam’s unseen landscapes, through the lens of couture.”
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Although Phan Huy is already known for embellishing their clothing with intricate hand embroidery and delicate beadwork, along with unique fabric treatments, the show in Paris still felt like “an elevation. The essence [of our collection] was the same, but more ambitious in construction and vision.” Adds Doan, “It was our DNA, but with the volume turned up.”
As Huy expresses in the brand’s website about the Paris debut, “Waking up from a summer afternoon nap—the rustling leaves, the gentle breeze, the scent of dried straw after harvest, and the sound of fish and shrimp splashing in the water basin my mom just brought home. Summer in Vietnam is truly lovely! When I designed this collection, I felt genuinely happy. Each design was a journey of digging through and picking up familiar little objects from the garden and childhood kitchen corners of so many Vietnamese people. One piece recalls a paper kite, another a bamboo fan, another the kids’ game of chicken-fighting with grass, or fish traps, glowing charcoal, or my father’s worn out vest… 36 designs, each a vivid image.”
Every piece in each of Phan Huy’s collections tells a story about Vietnamese identity, reflecting cultural preservation in tandem with an artistic dialogue. The clothes are also “elegant, contemplative and sculptural,” Doan says, while Huy expresses that the stories the clothes tell are “timeless. They are like quiet poetry in form: still, overwhelming, pure.”
Huy elaborates that his design process begins with emotion. He then sketches, makes fabric studies and experiments with shapes. He likes to mimic caves, clouds and cliffs when he drapes, bowing to nature and sustainability through tradition. He honors “the stillness and spirituality found in Vietnamese nature, reflected through refined silhouettes and deliberate material choices.” Once the concept is formed, Doan decides on the collection theme and runway story and then the production strategy.
The brand’s values include cultural authenticity, artisanal excellence, emotional resonance and storytelling with local roots. All these tie in with “materials [that] are chosen not just for aesthetics, but to support heritage crafts and sustainable production,” explains Doan. “We use organza, silk, tulle, handwoven hemp, and natural-dyed fabrics from local artisans in Vietnam,” says Huy, displaying a cultural significance that is ingrained in the brand philosophy.
Read more about Phan Huy in MEGA’s August 2025 issue now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Images courtesy of PHAN HUY
