High-end: A design belonging to the ao dai collection by designer Vo Viet Chung that will be presented at Couture Fashion Week New York in September at the Crown Plaza, Times Square in Manhattan.

HA NOI (VNS) — Designer Vo Viet Chung, will present his inspired ao dai collection at Couture Fashion Week New York on September 6 at the Crown Plaza, Times Square in Manhattan.

He was invited by Andres Aquino, founder and producer of the event to showcase 30 designs featuring the beauty of Cochinchina.

A Vietnamese collection by Van Thanh Cong will highlight the Asian Fashion Week taking place from August 13 to 15 in Surabaya, Indonesia. Cong's collection features traditional patterns and designs inspired from Dong Son culture, which existed between 700BC and 100AD. Cong, along with four other designers, Le Thanh Phuong, Tuan Cuong Le, Hoai Sang and Quynh Nhi, are representing Viet Nam at the fashion week on August 18 to present their collections. The fashion week will see collections by designers from Russia, Australia and Cameroon along with India, Sri Lanka and Brunei. Nepal, Bangladesh and Dubai will also be taking part. — VNS

The Couture Fashion Week New York will be graced by the world's top haute couture designers.

The ao dai collection made its debut in Viet Nam a year ago, in which Chung used made-in-Viet Nam material mac nua.

"The material has been used for a long time. It is nylon dyed with mac nua seeds," said the designer.

He was the first Vietnamese designer to win a UNESCO award for helping preserve Lanh My A, a silk fabric produced in south Viet Nam.

During his work to restore the southern traditional material, he discovered the mac nua tree and used it to dye the Lanh My A silk. He decided to publicise the mac nua material for his creativity.

The black colour mac nua material is shine and water-resistance.

"The satin look-alike material is medium thick and suitable for impressive block designing," Chung said, explaining why he used the material for his haute couture, which will be shown in New York.

Chung combined costume characteristics from the north, centre and south of Viet Nam. The collection goes with about 20,000 two-year old serial pearls, worth over VND10 billion (US$500,000).

The veteran designer has presented his designs at many shows in Germany, Britain and Malaysia. — VNS