From Ashes to Art: Phan Thi Thuy Shares Fashion Insights with Dragon Mother

Among all of my works, “Dragon Mother” is the piece that best represents my creative world and the way I think as a designer at this stage of my journey.

I have always been drawn to symbolic figures — characters that carry emotional depth and feel as if they belong to another world. “Dragon Mother” brings all of that together: it holds intensity and power, but also femininity, vulnerability, and rebirth.

This piece represents the way I see fashion — not simply as clothing, but as a medium for storytelling, emotion, and character creation.

I believe this design clearly reflects what I am always drawn to: fashion that feels cinematic, visually rich, emotionally layered, and filled with an inner story.

I believe my first connection to fashion began when I was very young, around the 4th grade.

At that time, I did not truly understand what fashion design was — I simply loved drawing dresses and imagining clothes. I used to take my mother’s old floral garments, cut them apart using a kitchen knife and chopping board, and hand-sew small outfits for my little sister, who was around two years old at the time.

Perhaps from a very early age, I was already drawn to the joy of creating something beautiful with my own hands and imagination.

As I grew older, I gradually realised that what I truly love is not only clothing itself, but the power fashion holds — the ability to express an inner world, tell a story, and reveal the aura and emotions of a character. To me, a beautiful design is not only about how it looks on the outside, but also about the energy and spirit it carries within.

What continues to motivate my creative journey is the desire to tell more stories through fashion. Each design is a way for me to transform the images, emotions, and inner worlds I carry into something that can be seen, touched, and felt. Perhaps that is why, even now, I still see fashion as a form of storytelling through emotion.

At the moment, fashion design is not yet the profession that supports my life financially.

I still have another job, and because my passion for fashion has never left me, I have kept a small room in my home as my own creative world — a private space where I paint, design, and continue building the things I love.

Most of the time, I can only return to that world during my days off or late at night, so every hour I get to spend there feels truly precious to me.

That space is often quiet, but inside it, there is always a mixture of calm and creative chaos. There are moments when I sit for a long time just thinking, imagining, and trying to feel whether an image or an idea is truly right. But there are also moments when everything becomes intense — fabrics, sketches, textures, accessories, and emotions all arriving at once in my mind.

Because I work alone, a day in my room is not only about designing, but also cutting, sewing, adjusting, experimenting, and finishing each detail with my own hands.

It is not a loud kind of chaos, but a very personal one — a place where passion, imagery, and intuition continue to quietly live with me, even while fashion is not yet my official full-time life.

If I had to describe my design philosophy in three words, they would be: Rebirth, Emotion, and Storytelling.

Rebirth is something I am always drawn to — the beauty of what has been broken or burned, yet still finds the strength to rise again. Emotion is at the core of everything I create, because I always want a garment to carry not only visual beauty, but also an inner spirit. 

And Storytelling is the way I see fashion itself: each design should feel like a character, a world, or a story with its own soul.

The moment I knew I had to submit this design came from something very personal.

Throughout my journey, I have often felt that the work I truly love has not always been fully understood or recognised for what it really is. Many people around me see fashion only on a very surface level, without realising that fashion design is not simply about making clothes — it is about creativity, visual thinking, storytelling, and building an entire world.

When I created “Dragon Mother,” I knew it was no longer something I wanted to keep only for myself. It became a piece through which I wanted to prove, both to myself and to others, that my passion is fashion design, not merely garment-making.

I felt that an international award would be the most meaningful place for this work to be seen and evaluated by people with professional eyes — in a way that felt fair, serious, and true to its value.

So when “Dragon Mother” was finally complete, I almost immediately knew that I had to submit it — as a way of stepping forward, being seen, and being recognised for something I have always believed in deeply.

If fashion had no limits, I would want to create a design with no fixed form — something that could constantly shift and transform like an extension of a character’s soul.

I imagine it as an inner force living around the body of the wearer — not simply as clothing, but as a presence that feels invisible yet real.

At times, it would be soft and gentle, wrapping around the character like comfort. At other times, it would become strong, sharp, and resilient, as if it were fighting to protect them. And sometimes, it would simply remain there in silence, resting beside them in stillness.

I have always been drawn to the idea that fashion should not only be something a person wears, but something that can become part of their emotions, their instincts, or even a part of their soul.

If there were no rules, I would want to create something like that — a design that is not only seen, but deeply felt, as if a living world were moving quietly within it.

If there is one thing I wish would make a stronger comeback in fashion, it would be individuality.

I have always loved the idea that a client could come to a designer and speak about who they are — their emotions, their inner world, their aura, and the very personal things they carry within themselves — and from that, a design would be created exclusively for them. To me, that is one of the deepest forms of beauty in fashion.

What I wish would slowly disappear is the repetition and imitation that often come with mass-produced fashion. I do not like the idea of thousands of identical garments being made for thousands of completely different people, as if fitting the body were enough.

To me, fashion should not stop at outer shape alone — it should also reflect something of the wearer’s personality, spirit, and individuality. Perhaps that is why I have always believed that fashion is at its most beautiful when it is not simply worn, but truly belongs to the person wearing it.

For me, artistic freedom is always the starting point. I believe that if a design does not carry the true soul of the person creating it, then no matter how beautiful or accessible it may be, it will still lack depth. That is why I always begin with emotion, ideas, and the inner world I want to express.

At the same time, I also understand that fashion does not exist only in an artistic space — it also needs to live in the real world, where there are people to wear it, needs to meet, connections to make, and a market to exist within.

For me, balance does not come from making a design “easier to sell” by sacrificing its identity, but from finding a way for its artistic spirit to remain intact while still allowing it to connect with people in a genuine way.

Perhaps I do not see art and commerce as complete opposites. I believe a design is at its most beautiful when it still carries its creative soul, while also finding a meaningful reason to exist in real life.

If I could collaborate with anyone, I think I would choose Guillermo del Toro. I have always been drawn to worlds that are at once beautiful, dark, and fantastical, yet still deeply human and emotional at their core.

What I love most about those kinds of characters is that they are never only visually striking — they also carry wounds, strength, loneliness, and a very rich inner life.

If I had the chance to collaborate, I would love to create costumes for a female character in a fantasy world — a place where fashion is not simply clothing, but a part of the character’s soul, emotions, and destiny.

I think fantasy cinema is a very special space, because within it I could freely bring fashion closer to emotion, storytelling, and worlds without limits.

To me, success in fashion is not simply about fame. If many people know my name, but what I create does not truly touch anyone, then that would still not feel enough to me.

First of all, success means being seen and recognised for what I truly am as a designer — not only for the outer appearance of a piece, but for the depth, emotion, and world that I have placed within it.

But more deeply than that, I think success is when one of my designs can make someone feel understood, emotionally moved, or able to see a part of themselves within it.

If one day I can create works that carry a very personal signature and leave a feeling in people’s hearts that lasts longer than the moment they first see them, then to me, that would be a very beautiful form of success.

I believe that over the next decade, fashion will continue to evolve very quickly — in terms of technology, production speed, and the way people consume images. But because of that, I also believe people will increasingly long for designs that feel more personal, more emotional, and more soulful.

To me, the future of fashion will not only be about creating more, faster, or louder things. It will also be about creating pieces that help people feel more connected to themselves. Designs with individuality, storytelling, and emotional depth will become even more valuable.

Within that future, I hope to be someone who continues to create fashion rooted in storytelling, imagery, and emotion. I may not know exactly where that path will lead me yet, but I do know that I want to become someone who creates designs that are not only seen, but also deeply felt and remembered.

If there is one thing I would say to my younger self — or to anyone who is chasing a dream — it would be this: keep going.

Even if no one believes in you or encourages you right now, that does not mean you are incapable of turning your dream into reality. Some journeys are very lonely, but that does not make them any less meaningful.

You do not need to be like the majority. Sometimes, the most special things are found in the few, not the many. Keep believing in yourself, even when the world around you has not yet seen what you are trying to build.

If I had to shape my life’s work into a single message to share with the world, I think it would be this: believe in the world that lives inside you, even when no one else can see it yet.

I have always believed that the most profound and beautiful things often begin as something fragile, lonely, or different. And sometimes, the parts of us that have been wounded, doubted, or seen as “outside the norm” are the very places where our deepest strength begins.

If there is one thing I hope my work can express, it is the feeling that people are always capable of rebirth — of becoming stronger, more luminous, and more truly themselves over time.

Perhaps that is also what I have always tried to do through fashion: not only to create beauty, but to create images that can touch something deep inside the human soul.