Lacquer painting by artist Pham Trinh printed on ao dai

As a lover of lacquer paintings with themes that always carry the identity of Vietnamese villages, designer Hoang Ly contacted artist Pham Trinh to ask for permission to use his paintings for the collection.Vietnamese Essence.

“Mentioning Pham Trinh’s lacquer paintings is to talk about the peaceful space of the Vietnamese countryside, to recall the image of a golden age in the quiet ancient capital… His paintings use many reddish-brown tones, bringing depth and peaceful nuances. This is also a very suitable color scheme for the autumn theme that I want to convey on the ao dai,” designer Hoang Ly expressed.

Designer Hoang Ly said that the most difficult thing when putting artist Pham Trinh's artworks on ao dai is how to keep the original colors of the paintings, especially the motifs from the eggshell inlay technique (attaching eggshells to lacquer works).

“I had to research and learn for many days to calculate how to get the most satisfactory results. The important thing is how to make the colors and details of the painting sharp and clear because printing on fabric is very difficult. If the fabric material is not good, the painting will be blurred and smudged,” said designer Hoang Ly.

Designer revealed, CollectionVietnamese EssenceMade by traditional hand-embroidered and hand-sewn artisans. The motifs on the painting are further highlighted by thousands of sparkling crystals.

To give the collection a nostalgic beauty, designer Hoang Ly chose the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam for the models to show off their beauty.

Previously, she also performed this collection at the Hanoi Autumn Festival organized by the Hanoi People's Committee, which ended a few days ago.

OutsideVietnamese EssenceWith over 20 years of experience in designing Ao Dai, designer Hoang Ly has created many collections honoring Vietnam's heritage and historical culture such as:Ninh Binh, Motherland, Ancient Capital of a Thousand Years, Morning Dew, Marks of Time.