Memories of Hue on the Paris fashion runway

Emotional Inspiration from "Hue Rain"

Nguyen Phuc Tuan, creator of the collection, hails from the royal lineage of the Nguyen Dynasty and previously studied architecture in Hue. Memories of the Imperial Citadel, the Perfume River, reed grass, and the prolonged rainy days of the Ancient Capital were thus incorporated into his collection through multiple layers of imagery.

Hue rain is a familiar stream of inspiration in Nguyen Phuc Tuan's creations. If "Hue Pluie" once viewed the rain through a reflective, nostalgic lens, then in "Numéro 6: Vũ khúc Cố đô" (Dance of the Ancient Capital), the rain is perceived from a more multidimensional perspective: possessing rhythm, movement, and light.

On the evening of September 30 Paris time, the collection "Numéro 6: Vũ khúc Cố đô" was presented at Maison de l'Amérique Latine within the framework of Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2027.

The 31 designs were divided into three parts: Khoi Vu, Chinh Vu and Quang Vu, corresponding to the three states before, during, and after a rainstorm. Hue rain became the seamless thread throughout, from the quiet moments before the rain and the climax amid the storm to the return of light.

Opening the Khoi Vu section was a modernized white ao dai design featuring a high collar, long sleeves, and an upper body covered in beadwork and raised floral motifs around the neckline. Subsequent designs utilized flowing curves, draped silhouettes, and a color palette of white, beige, yellow, and blue, evoking the Hue sky before the rain.

Images of clouds, reed grass, dragonflies, and kites were brought onto the garments using feathers, organza, and artisanal details. Crystal beads appeared sparsely near the top, resembling the first drops of water before the downpour.

Transitioning to Chinh Vu, colors shifted to black, deep navy, moss green, and silver sheen. The silhouettes also grew sharper, with dense strands of crystal attached to fall vertically along the body, suggesting the image of pouring rain.

Notably, a design inspired by the designer's mother's black raincoat on a bicycle saddle - with a flared, voluminous skirt silhouette reminiscent of a raincoat billowed by the wind - became a narrative-rich highlight.

In "Quang Vu", as the rain ceased, everything became clearer and more vibrant. The color palette burst forth with gold, powder pink, mist blue, pastel purple, and ivory white. Design structures were toned down, making way for soft pleats, ripples, and bias cuts, like flora stretching upwards after the rain. Silhouettes returned to a soft grace, yet carrying a new state: lightened, liberating, and brimming with life.

All 31 designs utilized Bao Loc silk - including organza, organza satin, taffeta, and silk velvet - combined with mesh tulle, feathers, crystals, and sequins. While taffeta and satin maintained structured shapes for architectural volumes, organza and mesh tulle preserved transparency and lightness, allowing light to pass through and enabling the designs to move with the body. According to designer Nguyen Phuc Tuan, choosing Bao Loc silk throughout the collection was the brand's way of placing Vietnamese materials into a new, deliberate, and systematic frame of reference.

Parallel Steps of Hue and Paris Icons

Notably, the "Merci Paris" design evolved from a traditional yem (bodice) into a halter-neck evening gown coated in gold sequins. On the skirt train, four architectural landmarks - the Eiffel Tower, Château de Versailles, Truong Tien Bridge, and Linh Mu Pagoda - were depicted in crystals and sequins.

This embellishment work took approximately two months to complete. The side-by-side appearance of Hue and Paris icons also reflected the intention to connect two cultural spaces within a single design.

Purple is the designer's signature color, conveying an East-West harmony: the purple sunset of Hue meets the romance found in Claude Monet's paintings. Taffeta was crafted into purple clouds using 3D structural techniques, while the purple twilight landscape of the Ancient Capital was hand-painted in oil onto the gown bodice. Light was also transformed into embellishments: a golden rain embracing the body via the designer's signature bias cut, linking Hue with Paris on the Merci Paris design.

Daffodils, a recurring motif for the brand, bloomed in full force in the final movement: lingering rain on sculpted tulle layers, bursting onto mermaid silhouettes, and dotting oil paintings on silk. This floral emblem shows that the designer is building a distinct linguistic system across each collection. The closing bridal gown then returned the color palette to the white of Khởi Vũ. The collection came full circle—from the opening white ao dai to the closing white wedding dress, from a sky awaiting rain to a clear morning - delivering a single message: it is the storm itself that sows the seeds for life to flourish.

Concluding the show was a wedding gown made of Bao Loc silk taffeta, featuring a tiered skirt that created natural volume paired with a waist-cinching corset, recalling pure white clouds floating across a blue sky after a storm. The transition from compressed structures to expansive silhouettes marked the end of the entire journey: after the rain, light returns, and all living things revive.

"This may not be the most beautiful collection of fashion week. But I hope it is the one that stays in the hearts of viewers the longest," Nguyen Phuc Tuan expressed.

Following the show, the collection was displayed on October 2 and 3 at the Barocc'o showroom at Hotel Le Meurice Paris, opening freely to the public and fashion enthusiasts to explore the designs and artisanal techniques used throughout the collection.