The dress was custom-made by Vietnamese-American designer Bach Mai. Fitting for a young designer representing a new generation of stars, the inspiration behind Bach's design is so relatable. “I'm very much having a Bridgerton moment, so I was really looking at the style of the Regency period in England but wanted to use cut and color to inject the gown with sensuality and modernity,” he shares.

Vietnamese-American designer Bach Mai has an illustrious fashion pedigree. A graduate of Parsons and Institut Français de la Mode, he honed his skills at Oscar de La Renta and Maison Margiela before debuting his eponymous line in 2021. Mai’s expertise in couture is evidenced in his dresses, which merge old-world techniques with a modern sensibility. Each gown he creates is exquisite. Whether your favorite is a slinky bias-cut look in velvet with the texture of liquid metal or a sculptural halter dress with a voluminous skirt, there’s no denying that his creations captivate. Early adopter Tessa Thompson wore several of his designs during her press tour for Passing—here’s hoping it will inspire her peers, too.

Meet designer Bach Mai, 33, a child of Vietnamese immigrants on Houston’s northwest side, who just might be fashion’s next big thing.

His brazenly feminine pieces with pops of pink and a bit of big-city edge, inspired in parts by fine art and a childhood love of Sex and the City, have gotten notice by no less an arbiter of such matters as Vogue, which has reported that “step by step, his plan is to build the next American couture house.” And his résumé — the world’s best fashion schools, affiliations with stars like John Galliano — is undeniably impressive.

A veteran of Maison Margiela, where he worked alongside John Galliano, Bach Mai founded his namesake label last year with the goal to bring back the tradition of American couture. A native of Houston who fell in love with couture through watching Galliano’s Dior shows online, Mai is inspired by debutantes and society mavens alike. He’s already dressed Venus Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kate Beckinsale and more.

But emerging couture designers are stepping away from these standards. Back in October, fashion insiders took notice when Vietnamese-American designer Bach Mai presented his debut collection. An alum of Oscar de la Renta and John Galliano’s Maison Margiela, Mai’s resumé gives a hint of what his work looks like: full-skirted gowns in high-low hemlines, peplum strapless tops, and metallic slip dresses that drape over the body like liquid paint. “It's irreverent, glamour and unabashed femininity that just has always been a part of my universe,” Mai told Refinery29 of his brand. “It’s not only about the aesthetic, but also this appreciation for the craftsmanship to come back.” Impeccable technique aside, what makes Bach Mai’s work innovative is the versatility that allows his designs to bring couture into the everyday. See: the bomber jackets that are paired with full, skirted gowns and leather pencil skirts featuring a too-open-to-walk-in middle slit.

Emerging fashion designer Bach Mai has been on a wild ride lately. Vogue has praised the 33-year-old Houston native as “an American Couturier in the Making” and Venus Williams, Tessa Thompson and Kate Beckinsale all recently appeared on the red carpet in glamorous sculpted gowns from his debut collection.

Texan-born, Paris-trained designer Bach Mai made a splash when he released his inaugural collection earlier this year; an elegant, ready-to-wear formal line with couture leanings. When we speak on Zoom in early December, Mai is sitting in front of a mood board of various experimental fabrics he’s developing with his fabric partner, Hurel. Like his fabrics, Mai is effervescent, waxing lyrical about his encyclopedic knowledge of fashion, his experience working under John Galliano, and bursting with excitement for the collections to come. In the below interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Bach Mai talks candidly about how Texas’s black-tie culture influenced his relationship with fashion.

Meet Bach Mai, an American Couturier in Making. Bach Mai has electric blue hair and Vietnamese immigrants for parents. He is not a couturier of the old school, but he doesn’t lack for atelier experience. A graduate of Parsons, he was assisting in the first studio at Oscar de la Renta during the fall 2013 season that John Galliano created a capsule collection for the New York designer. Not long after, with a master’s degree from Paris’s Institut Français de la Mode, Mai went to work for Galliano as he established himself at Maison Margiela.