Review: Duc Studio Embraces Tradition, But Never Conforms

For the Fashion Week Asia collection “Morality,” designer Nguyen Minh Duc experiments with the traditional Vietnamese attire áo dài, incorporating bold animal prints and layered tailoring.

The garments were made for the streets, but their representation and meaning go beyond that. Rather than simplifying morality, Nguyen Minh Duc, founder and creative directorCreative DirectorThe person who sets the overall visual vision of a fashion house, publication, or campaign and guides designers, photographers, and stylists toward it. A creative director's influence shapes collections, imagery,Go to Creative Director Glossary of Duc Studio, suggests through his collection, “Morality,” that the world is not divided into just two contrasting colors. As the background dimmed and the spotlight focused on the runway, bold prints and earthy neutrals took center stage.

The designer featured a modern interpretation of the traditional Vietnamese attire áo dài, with its Yakuza motif and layered tailoringTailoringThe craft of cutting, shaping, and sewing structured garments such as suits, blazers, and trousers to fit the body precisely. Good tailoring relies on skilled pattern work and fine finishing,Go to Tailoring Glossary. Looking like a second skin, the full-body graphic prints mimic scales, like those of dragons and koi fish. But similar to how the collection presents morality, neutrals like sandy beige, muted olive, warm brown, and charcoal balance the intricate graphic prints.

While the collection mixes traditional high-neck silhouettes with oversizedOversizedA cut that is intentionally larger and roomier than the body, producing a relaxed, voluminous silhouette. Oversized blazers, shirts, coats, and knits balance comfort with style, and they work especiallyGo to Oversized Glossary blazers and structured outerwear, there is a consistent use of electric pleats and traditional-inspired padded fabric headbands (mấn), alongside botanical headpieces.

Duc Studio has been vocal about its “Keep Fashion Weird” principle, which is reflected in its designs. But at the core of the brand’s nonconforming personality, Vietnamese culture is what it holds on to the most: its people, its everyday life, and the way they see and approach fashion.

But make no mistake: the designer makes one thing clear. The brand takes familiar elements from home and reinterprets them with its own touch to make them feel like home, but it is not bound by tradition. It is about finding the right balance between keeping one foot in each camp.