In recent decades, the growth of Vietnam’s fashion industry has prompted renewed experimentation with Áo Dài. While approaches vary, the challenge remains how to reimagine the garment without compromising its core identity. This ongoing dialogue highlights Áo Dài not as a static form, but as a living cultural expression—one that evolves alongside society while remaining grounded in its origins.
The publication of this photobook marks a significant milestone in Chiron Duong’s year-long engagement with Áo Dài and the people connected to it. Through photography, the book serves as a point of encounter where Áo Dài and contemporary Vietnamese popular culture are observed, interpreted, and shared from the artist’s perspective, offering international audiences a nuanced view of Vietnam’s visual and cultural landscape.
Hope for Peace & Love
Chiron Duong (Dat Duong, b. 1996) is a Vietnam-based fashion and fine-art photographer, and a graduate of Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture. His practice is deeply informed by Vietnamese and broader Asian cultures. Through research and visual exploration, he examines the richness of Asian color palettes—vivid yet subtle, expressive yet restrained—and their capacity to convey layered narratives.
Working primarily with photography, Duong seeks to translate the emotional and symbolic dimensions of Asian life, drawing from folklore, material culture, and traditional belief systems. His images explore the intersection between Eastern—particularly Vietnamese—and Western visual languages, expressed through color, texture, emotion, and form.
