Etherial: A design from Ly Quy Khanh's Tien Giang Tran (Fairy Descending to Earth) collection. — File Photos   Queen for a day: Model Ha Anh wears a dress designed by Giao Linh as part of her Returning From London collection.

HCM CITY (VNS)— Director Charlie Nguyen kept his promise of bringing cinema to the fashion stage as the first night of Dep Fashion Show 11 unfolded spectacularly on Thursday night.

Birth of Venus – Catwalk had the feel of a play being enacted as it presented the conceptual creations of four top Vietnamese designers.

The theme of this year's Dep Fashion Show is taken from the masterpiece by famous Italian painter Sandro Boticelli, which depicts Venus, the Goddess of Love, born out of a seashell as a fully mature woman, arriving at the seashore where she is greeted by one of the Horae, goddesses of the seasons.

Charlie Nguyen reproduced the picture by having model Truong Chi Truc Diem, Venus of designer Truong Thanh Long's collection called Bau Vat Dai Duong (Treasure of the Ocean), descended from the skies.

With vaporous light and mythological sounds, a dance group spread out like seashells, supporting and enclosing the goddess.

Images of endless waves and ocean creatures reflected the inspiration behind the collection.

Designer Long explained that his work aimed to indicate that beneath the peaceful and quiet surface of the ocean, there were undercurrents and gales.

The audience saw glittering fish scales on dresses inlaid with sequin, octopus's tentacles, or the dainty beauty of coral rows.

Long surprised the audience by using materials not usually part of dresses, like plastic straw and netting.

The collection, using white and silver as decisive colours, also marked the return of Long to the fashion stage after a rather long hiatus.

The fresh pastel colours of designer Ly Quy Khanh's latest collection opened a new chapter in the play, depicting the multiplication of life as well as sprouting and spreading of beauty.

Heavenly horses flew on the immense sky as models wearing Khanh's latest creations moved to the music of DJ Tri Minh, symbolising, organisers said, the "endless movement of life".

Actress and singer Minh Hang was the Venus for Khanh's Tien giang tran (Fairy Descending on Earth) collection.

Khanh added a touch of levity by playing the role of a man madly in love pushing a handcart heaped with pastel candy floss as he pursued the beautiful women on stage.

A battalion of British soldiers marched in to set the stage for Giao Linh, the sole female designer at the show.

Linh, who learned and worked in England previously, called her collection Nguoi Tro Ve tu London (Person Returning from London).

Her Venus was British singer Rita Ora (not present at the show), representing rebellious youth.

Linh used taffeta and silk in combination with modern materials like denim and leather to bring her conceptualisation of Venus.

Chosen as the closing performance of the day, designer Cong Tri led the audience into the world of Nam (Mushrooms).

So, starting with the Birth of Venus and continuing with the flow of life, the show portrayed the contradictions that emerge when life is at its peak before the inevitable descent begins.

However, even as the world ends, the mushroom still multiplies, its inherent vitality thriving.

He deployed the skills of knitting, weaving and stitching extensively in his sophisticated designs.

Tri lowered the curtain on the night by emerging out of a red radiant truffle – a dress worn by two veddettes, Thanh Hang and Ho Ngoc Ha.

His "birth" marked a new beginning as the first night of Dep Fashion Show 11 closed to resounding applause. — VNS