Designer Spotlight: Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Nhu

Full Name: Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Nhu

Age: 18

Hometown: Vietnam

Year at Liberty: Freshman

Years Doing the Fashion Show: 1

Materials being used: ribbons, plastic bags, paper, straws, cotton, fashion catalog.

Design inspiration (paragraph or more explaining where your inspiration comes from)

 Since I am from Vietnam, an Asian country, which was once ruled by kings, I want my piece to have a royalty style to reflect the historical side of my nation. I chose blue, red, silver and gold as these colors are widely considered to be the royalty’s and the aristocrat’s colors. Another point is that I also take inspiration from my name. My full name is Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Nhu.  The first name “Nhu” in Vietnamese means “alike” or “everything is according to one’s wish.” The middle name “Quynh” is a type of night blooming flower-Epiphyllum. This flower is called “Queen of the Night.” Thus, I hope my piece will be as beautiful and dignified in people’s eyes just like the flower.

As the theme is eco-friendliness, I want to show people that the environmental issues are “at hand.” Hence, we should act fast if we want to save our beloved land. I also choose the color red for the environment issues are at an alarming state. So, combining all the above inspiration together, I want to communicate that a person can be classy, royal and eco-friendly at the same time. As a fashion follower, I have my own distinctive style when it comes to my favorite designers; I idolize the kings of couture: Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. As a result, my fashion piece is a bit couture inspired. Furthermore, since the two designers and I share the same love for Japan, my designed dress is affected by the Japanese culture as well. Hence, I improvise a little by using straws to create a fan-like ribbon at the back of the dress. This ribbon can help making my dress more classy and fairy-tale-like. Moreover, I also made several origami figures to showcase the influence of Asian culture on me. Since this dress represents my idiosyncrasies, country and culture, I take great pride in making it.

Favorite part about participating so far:  Getting to understand the process behind a fashion show.

Gaining experience before stepping into the fashion world

Who are your models? Ashton Harrison