Vietnamese fashion from heritage to contemporary

VHO - The Vietnamese fashion industry is recording strong signs of the return of traditional cultural elements, in response to the requirements of modern integration. Because when cultural heritages are recreated in fashion design, the costumes will become stories of indigenous culture, contributing to shaping Vietnam's position on the world fashion map.

Interference to refresh

Fashion is inherently linked to creativity and constant change. Traditional cultural identity is crystallized through many generations, maintaining a lasting and difficult to change character.

So how to harmonize these two opposing elements to create modern products imbued with national spirit? is a big challenge for young designers today.

The solution that many people have proposed is that in fashion design, it is necessary to know how to handle cultural interference. Designers need to know how to choose, either to keep the spirit and national identity intact, or to borrow ideas and inspirations and boldly break the mold, forming new values, based on the cultural "soul" expressed in the product.

Water Puppet Design Template Set

For example, the street fashion model of student Cao Thi Linh (Fashion Design major, Hoa Binh University) was inspired by the traditional crow-beak scarf.

This is a familiar accessory, associated with the image of grandmothers and mothers in the past, which has been chosen by the young designer as the central highlight in modern costumes for young people. Thanks to the change in materials - from cotton, bamboo to leather, fur and a complete change in the wearer, this design has created a newness.

The cleverness of the design idea lies in keeping the main color and traditional shape of the past, making the scarf "live" again in contemporary life. The design therefore evokes the past and creates a close impression with the younger generation.

Similarly, the idea of ​​“water puppetry” on the ao dai model recently exploited by students of Hoa Binh University has breathed new life into the idea of ​​designing traditional costumes.

Simply put, the ao dai always carries a long-standing national aesthetic value, but through the designer's expression, it has become a "mobile stage", with images and lines expressing traditional folk art right in the color of the ao dai and the fabric, thereby reaching the public and young fashion consumers in a unique way.

Journey to promote identity

According to some consultants, the reality of incorporating traditional cultural elements into contemporary youth fashion design is still facing many barriers. The most common phenomenon is that some students and young designers do not have a firm grasp of cultural knowledge, especially indigenous culture, which has led to confusion in the way of exploitation, or directly borrowing ideas from other cultures.

Secondly, the reality of the lack of direct contact with indigenous cultural life for many young people also causes many new coordinated fashion designs to only stop at the surface of images and colors, without being able to fully convey the depth of traditional culture into the product.

The idea based on the crow's beak scarf is expressed through the new design

The warning from consultants is that if the mistakes and misdirected exploitation in combining tradition with contemporary are not corrected, Vietnamese fashion will be shaken, inspiration from heritage culture will decline, and the competitive advantage from cultural characteristics will gradually be lost.

This has been noticed by managers, who have proposed many policies to encourage the preservation and promotion of culture through art, including the fashion sector; universities have applied criteria and national identity into their training programs, guiding students to exploit cultural heritage.

At the same time, current digital technology activities are also opening up rich archives of documents, helping the younger generation to be more proactive in accessing and seriously researching opportunities to apply traditional culture to contemporary fashion.

The important and decisive factor still lies in the initiative and responsibility of the designer. When they truly understand, appreciate and build love for cultural heritage, the fashion products they launch can reach aesthetic maturity and cultural significance.

In the trend of globalization, indigenous factors are becoming a “soft weapon” for countries to assert their position; and Vietnamese fashion is also a field that is exploited with that spirit: taking traditional culture as the foundation, integrating internationally with its own identity.

Fashion collections inspired by Dong Son patterns, Central Highlands brocade or water puppetry not only create aesthetic impressions, but also tell the story of Vietnamese culture to the world.

On the international stage, these designs clearly demonstrate that the Vietnamese people and country constantly renew their heritage without losing their roots.

Bringing traditional heritage into the contemporary breath is a necessary choice for Vietnamese fashion to affirm its identity in the journey of global integration. Tradition and modernity become two parallel sides of the same problem, helping Vietnamese fashion to boldly catch up with contemporary trends, while still confidently preserving the sustainable and delicate elements of "Vietnamese soul".

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/giai-tri/thoi-trang-viet-tu-di-san-den-duong-dai-166780.html