Designers and fashion houses from the UK, US and Vietnam will bring distinct approaches to the Áo Dài to London, spanning traditional craftsmanship, contemporary materials and new interpretations of silhouette and form.
Áo Dài Fashion Week London 2026 will take place from 18–20 September, culminating in two runway shows on 20 September. The line-up brings together nine designers and fashion houses: Meritorious Artisan and Designer Lan Hương, Thái Nguyễn Atelier, Lụa Kim, Love Collection by Anna Hoàng, The Lụa La Khê, Áo Dài UK, TĂNG, GENVIET and designer Lê Thanh Danh.
The line-up spans designers who have spent more than two decades working with the Áo Dài and have presented their work on stages beyond Vietnam, alongside brands and emerging creative voices exploring new ways of interpreting the garment.
Áo Dài on International Stages
Meritorious Artisan and Designer Lan Hương has spent more than two decades working with the Áo Dài, Vietnamese silk, hand embroidery and traditional craftsmanship. Her collections have been presented at fashion and cultural events in Vietnam and internationally. In London, she will present Prosperous Planet No. 2, continuing a creative direction shaped by Vietnamese culture, nature and the artisanal traditions that have long defined her work.
Thái Nguyễn, meanwhile, built his career in the United States. He left Vietnam at the age of 13, trained in Western fashion and has spent more than two decades working in high-end fashion. His designs have appeared on major Hollywood red carpets, including the Oscars.
At Áo Dài Fashion Week London, Thái Nguyễn Atelier will present IDENTITY, a 33-look collection that explores Vietnamese identity through different people, families and lived experiences rather than a single defining image.
From Traditional Craft to New Experimentation
One of the most striking aspects of this year’s programme is the breadth of materials, techniques and cultural references behind the collections. Alongside the experience brought by Lan Hương and Thái Nguyễn, the wider line-up offers distinctly different approaches to the Áo Dài. Centuries-old weaving techniques, folk painting and historic Chu Đậu ceramics all become starting points for new fashion interpretations.
The Lụa La Khê brings one of Vietnam’s longstanding weaving traditions to London. In The Essence of La Khê, traditional patterns from the historic craft village are incorporated into Áo Dài made from the and natural silk. La Khê the is woven using the village’s distinctive go võng heddle system, creating a fabric that is light and airy while retaining a closely interwoven structure.
While La Khê begins with the fabric itself, TĂNG looks to Hàng Trống folk painting. In Four Sacred Creatures & Four Elegant Ladies, designer Tăng Mai Anh did not want its traditional figures to become simply decorative motifs placed onto the Áo Dài. Moving them from paper to a garment in motion required the proportions, composition and placement of individual details to be reconsidered.
“I don’t reproduce the original. We translate the language of painting into the language of fashion — from a static image into a moving form.”
Elsewhere, Lụa Kim explores the velvet, brocade and hand craftsmanship; Lê Thanh Danh draws inspiration from bamboo and the everyday life of rural Vietnam; and GENVIET brings denim into the Áo Dài. Love Collection and Áo Dài UK, meanwhile, offer perspectives shaped by the cultural interplay between East and West.
On 20 September, nine collections presenting nine different perspectives on the Áo Dài will take to the runway at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London Tower Bridge, bringing Áo Dài Fashion Week London 2026 to the heart of the British capital.
But the questions that follow the runway may prove just as important: How far can designers continue to experiment with the Áo Dài? Which skills and techniques will be carried forward by the next generation? And what new opportunities could a dedicated Áo Dài Fashion Week create for Vietnamese designers?