The “Ao Dai – Vietnamese cultural heritage” programme, which was held by the Vietnamese Women’s Union in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, featured over 1,000 designs by 21 designers.

 

The traditional Ao Dai patterns were inspired by Vietnam’s cultural heritages that have been recognised by UNESCO as world heritages, such as Ha Long Bay, Saint Giong Festival in Phu Dong and Soc temples, Trang An landscape complex, Hung Kings worship rituals, Dong Van Stone Plateau, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Ca Tru (ceremonial singing), the worship of Mother Goddesses, Xoan singing and Quan Ho (love duet singing).

 

The designs were displayed by 60 professional models, 100 students from Vietnam’s Women Academy, 50 children, the wives of foreign Ambassadors, and foreigners living in Hanoi.

 

Through artistic creations, the enthusiastic designers wished to contribute to “identifying” Ao Dai as an intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam.

 

The largest scale show of Ao Dai aimed to convey a message that wherever it appears, the Vietnamese traditional long dress will be not be confused with any other outfit in the world.

 

Some selections from the show: