From ritual space to market phenomenon
For a long time, Vietnamese costumes such as the Ao Tac, Ngu Than with slit sleeves, Nhat Binh, and Khan Van only appeared on stage, in museums, or in historical films. However, recently, a strong revival wave has emerged. Vietnamese costumes appear on the streets, in wedding studios, music videos, festivals, and international events. From the ceremonial space, Vietnamese costumes have stepped into everyday life, becoming a symbol of contemporary national identity.
Performing Vietnamese costumes at the Bach Hoa Bo Hanh festival in Hue City in June 2025, an event that attracted thousands of attendees.
PHOTO: Organizing Committee
The revival of Vietnamese traditional dress shows that this is not just a nostalgic trend, but is shaping up as a symbol of Vietnamese aesthetics. Vietnamese traditional dress is now a bridge between art and life, past and present, individual and community, creating a vibrant, unique and sustainable cultural flow.
At ancient heritage sites and landscapes such as Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hue Monuments Complex (including Hue Royal Palace) and many other historical sites, Vietnamese costume rental shops are appearing more and more. Tourists come to visit and "transform" into kings, queens, palace maids, mandarins... and take photos against the backdrop of the monuments, creating beautiful memories for themselves while spreading the value of the landscape, bringing back more and more fond looks at Vietnamese costumes.
New cultural trends
Starting from ancient costume photo sets and folklore cosplay on social networks, Vietnamese costumes have become part of the vibrant cultural flow in the lives of young people. In big cities like Hanoi , Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City, many studios specializing in Vietnamese costume photography have emerged, leading to the development of rental and tailoring services. The common rental price ranges from only one hundred thousand to several hundred thousand VND per turn, while personal tailoring ranges from several hundred thousand to more than a few million VND - a reasonable price that helps Vietnamese costumes reach a large number of people who love traditional culture.
The Hundred Flowers Walking Festival will take place in March 2025 on the central streets of Ho Chi Minh City.
Photo: Pham Hong Soi
Beyond the photo space, Vietnamese costumes are prominently present in large-scale community cultural events. For example, the event "Viet Phuc Hanh" - a parade and performance of traditional costumes (initiated and organized by director and singer David Le) took place in early 2025 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This event set a Vietnam Record (VietKings) with the title "The parade and performance of Vietnamese traditional costumes with the largest number of participants", gathering thousands of young people who are students, models, businesses, artists and lovers of national culture... Participants wore unique Vietnamese traditional costumes such as ao nhat binh, ao tac, ngu than tay nen of the Nguyen Dynasty; ao giao linh, ao doi kham of the Le and Tran Dynasties, tu than, traditional ao dai, ao ba ba, combined with turbans, wooden clogs, ethnic jewelry... creating a colorful and culturally rich space.
Hundred Flowers Walking Festival in Hanoi
PHOTO: VAN THUY LIEN
Similarly, "Bach Hoa Bo Hanh", an annual art parade activity attracts thousands of participants from each region, including many artists, beauties, male and female students and many representatives of cultural organizations and businesses. They perform Vietnamese costumes together on the central streets, spreading traditional beauty and inspiring the preservation of cultural heritage through "walking" in the Vietnamese soul. The performances last March in Ho Chi Minh City and June in Hue each attracted more than 1,000 participants.
In music , Vietnamese costumes are also increasingly present. Bac Kim Thang (Hoang Thuy Linh), Khong the cung nhau suot kiep (Hoa Minzy), To dong thanh thot (Vu Thuy Linh)..., all resonate thanks to the music and the elaborately restored, highly symbolic Vietnamese and ancient costumes.
Go out into the world
On the international stage, Vietnamese beauty queens have chosen Vietnamese traditional costumes as a cultural mark. At Miss Supranational 2025, Miss Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen impressed with the Co Doi Thuong Ngan costume - inspired by the Mother Goddess worship, combining a chau dress and elaborate hat. Miss Huynh Tran Y Nhi participated in Dance of the World (Miss World) with the Dai Ngan Dance, stylized from the Central Highlands culture, combining traditional brocade and tassels.
Mother and daughter wearing Vietnamese costumes attend the Bach Hoa Bo Hanh event in Ho Chi Minh City, March 2025
Photo: Pham Hong Soi
The revival of Vietnamese traditional dress shows that this is not just a nostalgic trend, but is shaping up as a symbol of Vietnamese aesthetics. Vietnamese traditional dress is now a bridge between art and life, past and present, individual and community, creating a vibrant, unique and sustainable cultural flow.
Bach Hoa Walking Festival in Hue, June 2025
Photo: Organizing Committee
Workshops on ancient embroidery patterns, talk shows on dynastic fine arts, folk costume drawing competitions... have also flourished, demonstrating the lasting cultural appeal of Vietnamese costumes in the hearts of young people.
Artist Vu Thuy Linh with pure Vietnamese costumes and accessories
PHOTO: NVCC
Six years ago, Pham Dong, founder of Dong Creative, realized that Vietnam possessed valuable cultural resources that could develop creative industries, but were being forgotten. While ancient Chinese and Korean costumes were spreading far and wide, Vietnamese costumes were still just a memory. He chose Vietnamese costumes as a direction to awaken love for culture through fashion, with designs mainly inspired by the Le Trung Hung period, using Nha Xa silk and preserving traditional shapes and patterns. In addition to design, he also created videos integrating artificial intelligence (AI) on digital platforms, attracting a large number of young people.
Miss Huynh Tran Y Nhi (left) participated in Dance of the World (Miss World) with a costume called Dance of the Great Forest, designed in a stylized style from the Central Highlands culture.
Photo: MW
Artist Vu Thuy Linh shared the album To Dong Thanh Thot using the ancient Ao Dai as a journey to spread Vietnamese culture through fashion, combining traditional musical instruments to honor traditional beauty. She, along with stylist Hoai An, photographer Nguyen Long and designers Cao Minh Tien, Lasen Vu, Pham Hoa, Dan Huong, built a diverse concept, from traditional to contemporary. "I believe that Vietnamese costumes can live with contemporary artistic life," artist Vu Thuy Linh affirmed.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/co-phuc-viet-troi-day-185250712230046666.htm
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