Paris Fashion Week: Patrick Pham Invokes Visions of the Far East - Evocative, Radiant, Sensual

Showcasing Vietnamese designer Patrick Pham, select pieces from two recent shows in Paris bring a continuity of thought as he moves freely from summer and feminine pinks to trendy winter treats reminiscent of an emerging Parisian fashion capital.

Selection were chosen from the recent "4 Seasons" and "Pearl of the Far East" collections. Light pink as a lotus flower, blue of the dawn sky in summer, or red chili, green of the rice-fields… All the colours of the Vietnam and of his childhood have inspired the French Patrick Pham for the 4 Seasons collection…


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Handmade embroideries, pearls on silk, on cashmere, lace, velvet or tulle. And the black of course, spellbinding in its evening gowns, festive nights, and caressing the flesh of chic but cheeky women. Patrick loves to reveal the natural energy of a woman in search of the adventure and the love…

The collection shows a wardrobe made of sophisticated suits as pearls dresses, which could travel on a cruise ship through the China Sea. The Patrick Pham woman likes to wear creations which are lightly sculpted and shaped on her body. The dresses favour movement, freedom, and luxury and are made of gossamer embroideries. A society woman, a woman in the society.

A dreamlike world blending post-classical music, cinematic mood with minimalist electronic sounds, the music of the pianist composer Vivian Roost reminding us of emotional movies soundtrack like «Amélie from Montmartre» or the «Piano». From Japan to Switzerland, he is performing since his fist album « Départ » all around the world to meet his international public.

As a composer, he has taken part over more than 10 years in several audiovisual projects and has composed for many artists. Vivian is one of the songwriters behind the biggest selling French artist of 2010, ZAZ.


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Since 2 years, Patrick Pham and Vivian Roost wanted to get together something with both design and music. In perfect synchronisation, without consulting, they present today both their new projects : « The Four Seasons », a very unique piano album, inspired by Japonese haikus poems ; A tour de force by which the composer manages to give the poem an open sense by using a plurality of piano and different tuning frequencies.

Link to discover the full album : www.vivianroost.com/thefourseasons

Whether it is in Indochine or in L'Amant, "Vien Dong" has been in the heart of France as a love. That loves inspired Patrick Pham. On his trip to the rural weaving villages, the young designer suddenly recollects the distant memories.

The luggage he brought back is filled masterpieces from the ivory-like hands of artisans from a country that is deeply in love with France. The old French sentiment for the Far East rises up again with another love story. Paris is just like to meet its old friend!

Coming to this Paris Fashion Week 2019, Patrick Pham presents 29 Couture dresses from handmade textile materials of Vietnam's most famous weaving villages, along with handmade accessories made by artisans from Hue – the Imperial city of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam.


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"Lanh MyA" is a silk weaving product dyed from Diospyros Mollis fruit, locally known as "mặc nưa". "Lanh MyA" has been used for costume of the royal families of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, or as a luxury gift for only rich families, landlords, and Indo-Chinese wealthy class.

In the hands of Patrick Pham, Lanh My Aseems to have been a classy material for luxury suit and soiree dress. The beauty of Lanh MyAis dominated right from the care of silkworm cocoon so that each silkworm can pull out the best and healthiest silk threads. Especially, the woven silk is under a very unique dyeing technique.

 

The dyeing process takes nearly 5 months to complete. Fabric must go through 2 dyeing cycles and sun drying in the wind. This is the secret know-how of the black, leather-like Lanh MyAsilk. Sadly, it is in danger of being lost.

Nowadays, many local people turn to weave other normal fabrics since industrial textiles with high capacity can generate better income. The whole country now has only one artisan family whose have been trying to rebuild and implement this natural secret.

Once upon a time in the history of Vietnam, there had been a beautiful weaver who was chosen to marry to the Prince and become the Queen. People called her QueenY Lan. QueenYLan is one of the most famous and beloved queens with a caring heart for her people. She was honored as the founding ancestor of silk weaving for teaching her people to plant mulberry, raise silkworm, and weave silk.


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As the tradition goes, every Vietnamese girl grows up knowing how to weave cloth, embroider, and sew. Fabrics seem to inherit their personalities and destiny from those ivory-like hands. The fabric and silk is indeed a cultural reflection of a multi-ethnic nation.

Brocade is a unique product that ethnic minorities in Vietnam pass down from generation to generation in such a way to reflect the characteristics of their culture. Brocade is a fabric made of cotton, linen or hemp yarn, all handwork. Fabrics are dyed from wild plants with variety of colors: gloomy sometimes, brilliant sometimes.

There are patterns on the fabric that uniquely represent each ethnic group. These patterns are embossed during the weaving process, though those appear to be embroidered at first. Brocade carries in itself the vibe of local live: rustic, but generous and wild. Encountering those characteristics of brocade, Patrick Pham did a bold thing: erasing the cultural boundaries of wild, liberal brocade.

Brocade is mixed with other materials such as horse skin and cattle fur. In the hand of Patrick, Brocade has raised the wild rhythm of a "Tziganes" girl and the sexy look of a "Bohémien" girl. Brocade gets itself out of being a local material to romantically reunite in Paris Patrick Pham creates a wedding dress with new materials : silk from hyacinth flowers.

Hyacinth flowers on wedding dress – gentle but elegant. Accessories from jackfruit wood, which is a cheap material for statue making and construction, suddenly became luxury material for fashionable and colorful handicraft boots.

Naming the collection "Pearl of Far East" for Couture dresses from handmade and environmentally friendly materials, Patrick Pham probably just started his new journey: the journey to promote Paris fashion lifestyle, but this time, it is somewhere outside of France!

Content, Images Courtesy of Patrick Pham; Art Direction by Janet Walker


 

 

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