Minh Nguyet

To celebrate Thuy Design House’s eventful nineyear journey, at the end of 2020 artist Thuy Nguyen collaborated with The Factory Contemporary Arts Center to organize a creative and remarkable fashion exhibition called “An Everyday Dream.”

 Thuy Nguyen is an artist, designer and businesswoman whose creative path spans painting, installation art, filmmaking and fashion design. To celebrate the ninth anniversary of her fashion label, Thuy Design House, she is the focus of “An Everyday Dream,” an exhibition curated by prominent Australian art consultant Dolla S. Merrillees and co-organized by The Factory, Vietnam’s first center for contemporary arts. Thuy Nguyen has become well-known for a boundless creativity that draws on intense historical research and blends tradition and modernity. “An Everyday Dream” traverses Vietnamese culture, drawing on folk and religious elements, characters of oral literature, folk songs and proverbs, all expressed through designs using contemporary styles and techniques. Organized in seven distinct themes including “Future Creation,” “Wrapped in Color,” “Light & Shadow” and “Architecture of Memory,” the exhibition offers viewers an in-depth perspective on the designer and her work.

“An Everyday Dream” consists of more than 100 objects and 60 milestone designs from Thuy Nguyen’s career, including the traditional outfit worn by singer Hoang Thuy Linh in the video for “De Mi noi cho ma nghe” (“Let Me Tell You”), ceremonial costumes for Empress Dowager Duong Van Nga in the film Quynh hoa nhat da and the viral áo dài which appeared in Co Ba Sai Gon (The Tailor). Two noteworthy pieces from the 2019 collection “My Chau” stand out with eye-catching 3D embossed details and impressive lotus motifs created by thermaltransfer printing. The designs are representatives of a memorable collection that highlighted cai luong folk opera. The innermost room of the exhibition mirrors Thuy Nguyen’s real-life office. The replica is rooted in the Hanoi of the past, with Hang Trong paintings, fabric art, blackand- white photos and ornamental antiques. On a rustic desk sit color palettes and unfinished drafts of designs, in a display that conveys the dedication, research and inspiration behind Thuy Nguyen’s designs. “An Everyday Dream” combines fashion and art in a meticulously organized and multilayered event that brings audiences closer to one of the most creative figures in Vietnam.