Marking his 3rd physical appearance at London Fashion Week, Vietnamese designer Trần Hùng showcased the first glimpses of his Spring/Summer 2025 collection Orchids & Love for the Environment at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel, sharing the runway with fellow emerging Vietnamese designer Monstand. Featuring clean, elegant silhouettes, soft florals juxtaposed with sharp, precise tailoring, glamorous column dresses, and the standout piece – a coquettish mini dress constructed entirely from fabric orchids worn by model Lexi Hughes - Hùng cultivated an enchanting, vivid bouquet of outfits that demonstrated a deep understanding of women and the female body.
However, Orchids & Love for the Environment also represented a striking continuation of Hùng’s exploration of sustainable storytelling. Since establishing his eponymous brand in 2016, Hùng has proven to be a formidable force in the fashion world. Carving a name for himself as a sustainable and ethical fashion designer, he tests the limits of design without forgoing his ethos and values. As he puts it,
“Our responsibility goes beyond creating beautiful garments. More importantly, each piece must carry a story. For us, that story is about recycling—giving fashion a renewed life cycle to protect the purity of nature and the environment.”
The orchid, his new floral muse, was at the heart of the collection, serving as a playful symbol of his stance on climate change and environmental preservation. Through this motif, Hùng conveyed the flower’s demise at the greedy hands of capitalism. Orchids, with their elegant angular-shaped petals, rich hues, and exotic fragrances, are unfortunately among the species of flowers most exposed to environmental changes. Many orchids are native to specific regions, such as Southeast Asia, and climate change poses a continued threat to their natural habitats, driving certain species toward total extinction.
The 40 outfits adorned with delicate fabric orchids and inspired by the natural colour palette of the flowers themselves – white, pink, and purple – therefore evoked a sense of something far greater than fashion. As the petals moved gently with the model’s every movement, they conjured a powerful moment of transcendence, prompting the spectator to contemplate how these beautiful flowers, at risk of extinction, are no longer able to exist as freely as they do in Hùng’s designs. This message was further enhanced by the Waldorf’s Edwardian interior. Its high ceilings, dramatic chandeliers, ornate mouldings and charming drapery underscored the need for conservation and preservation.
To create the collection, Hùng employed a design process that highlighted the endless possibilities of sustainable fashion, celebrating a harmonious balance between the fashion world and Mother Earth. He and his gifted team of craftsmen worked exclusively with ethically sourced silk, using limited machinery to craft the exquisite garments. Through this approach, Hùng lived up to his responsibility of creating radiant outfits that honour a healthy relationship with the environment.
Consisting of modern, glamorous interpretations of wearable fashion – from classic tweed two-pieces reimagined in contemporary silhouettes to denim tailoring paired with transparent crystal-embellished leotards - Monstand’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection, La Pureza, perfectly complemented Hùng’s message.
To create La Pureza, the brand’s founder, Diep Yen sought a floral muse of his very own: the Udumbara. This mythical flower believed to bloom only once every 3,000 years, is so elusive and entrancing, that it is worth the long wait. Drawing inspiration from this, Monstand’s diverse line-up celebrated the beauty of femineity, the harmony of nature and the ephemeral.
The stand-out piece - an ethereal lace floral gown with a high ruffled neckline and matching veil dotted with ivy-like strands of beading – left viewers feeling as though they had just been visited briefly by an angel. This sensation was only intensified by the soft classical background music performed by singer Georgia Cecile.
Hùng and Yen craft a collective ode to Vietnamese talent on a grand scale, producing a hypnotic and moving display that celebrated the shared beauty of women and nature.
Daisy Culleton is an Essex-based writer with a degree in BA American Studies and History from the University of Nottingham.
