Designing ethnic costumes - opportunities and challenges

Signs of improvement

In recent years, many competitions such as Miss Universe Vietnam, Miss Grand Vietnam or Miss Universe Vietnam have organized costume design competitions inspired by national culture. From this stepping stone, young people have the opportunity to be creative, realizing the dream of promoting the beauty of their homeland to international friends through their "brainchild". Also from these competitions, many unique costumes have been born, highly appreciated not only for their ideas but also for their stage effects, helping Vietnamese beauties shine.

Among them are Vu Khuc Thien Long designed by Nguyen Le Vinh Tuong, inspired by the story of the dragon's descendants, brought by Miss Le Hoang Phuong to Miss Grand International 2023; Ngoc Diep Ky Nam performed by Dang Tran Tri, advised by Nguyen Minh Cong, originating from the image of a butterfly parasol from the Nguyen Dynasty combined with a Nhat Binh dress performed by Miss Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen at Miss Universe 2024; Mien Da Noc Hoa designed by Bui The Bao, inspired by the culture of the H'Mong people combined with the beauty of the cherry blossom season on the rocky plateaus, recently performed by model Nguyen Dinh Nhu Van at Miss Global 2025...

The Ky Nam Jade design was chosen by Miss Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen to bring to Miss Universe 2024

PHOTO: NVCC

Previously, Banh Mi by Pham Phuoc Dien was controversial but helped H'Hen Nie "cause a storm" at the Miss Universe 2018 arena. Sharing about the memories associated with this national costume, the beauty queen from Dak Lak expressed: "Many contestants and organizing staff called me "Miss Banh Mi" after the national costume competition. I felt that was very cute, proving that the costume created sympathy for people to remember and be impressed by it. Until now, sometimes international audiences still call me by this title."

In the past, national costumes were "ordered" by Vietnamese representatives from designers, but in recent years, the organizers of domestic competitions have invested in organizing a separate competition, associated with performance activities, creating a colorful night. In particular, Miss Grand Vietnam even produced a reality TV show, inviting experienced designers to support the contestants.

Designer Dang Trong Minh Chau, coach in the costume design competition inspired by national culture of Miss Grand Vietnam 2024, said: "This is an environment for you to introduce yourself, freely fly, and be creative to express your ideas. This is also a cradle for those with thinking and ability to develop in their career. For the organizers, the competitions not only create buzz but also help them have more unique costumes to serve the international competitions for which they hold the copyright."

Miss Le Hoang Phuong performs in the Dragon Dance costume at Miss Grand International 2023

PHOTO: NVCC

Difficult problem needs solution

The development of beauty contests opens up an increasing demand for national costumes. Every year, we have dozens of contestants competing in international arenas, not to mention that each domestic contest also opens up great opportunities for young faces to express themselves, creating a premise for future career development. Not to mention, this is also a great opportunity to promote the beauty of culture, cuisine... of Vietnam to friends around the world.

With international "combat" experience, Miss H'Hen Nie shared: "Through a costume, if the audience is impressed, they will learn more about the origin and inspiration of that design." Sharing the same opinion, Dang Tran Tri, owner of the Ngoc Diep Ky Nam set, believes that national costume design competitions are not only a creative playground but also open up many career opportunities.

"If there is an impressive design, the audience can be recognized, build a name and have more opportunities to cooperate in the fashion industry. Overall, this is a mutually beneficial opportunity, both promoting the development of the fashion design industry and helping to promote Vietnam's image widely in the international arena," said designer Dang Tran Tri.

The combination of creativity and national spirit is the key to help costumes not only have artistic value but also convey the Vietnamese cultural story to international friends in the most impressive way.

Designer Dang Tran Tri

However, along with the advantages, young designers also have to face many challenges. Notably, finding and filtering ideas from many different "materials" is considered a difficult problem that needs to be solved. Not to mention, the journey from drawing to reality is not a story of "one or two days" but a whole process of effort. There have been many national costumes that, although highly appreciated in the drawings, the results received did not completely convince the audience. That shows that finding materials and researching the implementation method are things worth paying attention to.

Dang Tran Tri shared that to create the outfit for Miss Ky Duyen at Miss Universe 2024, he had to face many challenges in terms of time, finding materials, designs, balancing aesthetic factors with comfort for the wearer... To make that journey go smoothly, the young designer said that he always puts traditional cultural factors as the foundation in addition to combining them with contemporary fashion trends. According to him, that ensures that the outfit not only has a strong identity but is also trendy, helping the Vietnamese representative stand out on stage.

"In addition, I also listen to opinions from experts, audiences and especially the wearer to adjust the design to suit the body and performance style. The combination of creativity and national spirit is the key to help the costume not only have artistic value but also convey the story of Vietnamese culture to international friends in the most impressive way," said Dang Tran Tri.

Designer Dang Trong Minh Chau believes that when designing national costumes, it is necessary to show the novelty and thinking in the idea. In addition, stage effects, aesthetics, and fashion are also things to consider to help contestants stand out on stage. "I hope we will always have talented young people who have new contributions, creating attraction. I also hope that the organizing committee will sponsor and support them with more funds so that they can be confident in their creativity," Dang Trong Minh Chau expressed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thiet-ke-trang-phuc-dan-toc-co-hoi-va-thach-thuc-185250325232554613.htm