Thuy Floats Into Fashion
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week kicks off Friday, and on the roster of spring 2009 collections to be shown is that of newcomer Thuy Diep, a SoHo-based designer making her debut at Bryant Park. Founded in 2007, her line Thuy (pronounced twee) has a floaty, feminine look, and her runway show will mark her entry into fashion's major league. It is also the culmination of a family's long struggle.
Konrad Fiedler
Designer Thuy in her studio on August 28 before her first Fashion Week runway show in Bryant Park.
Ms. Diep was born in Phan Thiet, Vietnam, to parents who worked as professional tailors. The Dieps immigrated to America in 1979, settling in Los Angeles after surviving difficult conditions on a refugee island. The family's life in California, however, wasn't all surf and sun. As a child, Ms. Diep pitched in to help her mother with the pile of sewing work from the garment district. It was an experience the designer describes as "dreadful." "At some point, I had to pretend I sucked at it," Ms. Diep said. Still, just a few days from the runway debut of her line, Ms. Diep thoroughly appreciates the ironic outcome of spending her earliest childhood years with a needle and thread in hand.
Ms. Diep attended Brown University where she studied English literature and visual arts. In 1997, she moved to New York City and took a consulting job with Price Waterhouse. The position was not a good fit, although Ms. Diep walked away with valuable lessons in business. Once she summoned the courage to give in to fashion, she enrolled at Parsons School of Design. After graduating in 2003, she landed a job making patterns and draping at a New York-based French atelier that counts among its clients Carolina Herrera, Peter Som, and Zac Posen.
Now in her own studio on West Houston Street, Ms. Diep wearing a metallic high-waisted skirt and purple Mary Jane heels moved about her dimly-lit space to show off a few of the 32 looks that will be unveiled on Sunday. Though she counts several Japanese and Belgian designers, such as Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garηons' Rei Kawakubo, and Martin Margiela, as influences, her spring 2009 collection has a loose, feminine look. Part of her inspiration came from the 2006 film adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel "The Painted Veil" and the wardrobe of the character Kitty Fane, a British socialite who marries hastily and relocates to Hong Kong.
"I saw the movie and connected to her. I sort of re-imagined her in today's context how I would dress her. She's got a romantic side to her. There's a softness, but there's also a hard edge to her because she's a fairly strong woman," Ms. Diep said.
That balance of structure and ease is in evidence in two voluminous lightweight coats of wool gabardine that Ms. Diep will show. The black version features exaggerated pockets that jut open exposing a decorative abstract print. The other, in pale ivory, has a thin strip of patent leather piping along the front in place of closures; at the rear, the coat falls just at the hip. The dimensions are entirely yet perfectly at odds with the front.
Like her avant-garde heroes, Ms. Diep injects her pieces with subtle humor: Unexpected accents, such as oversize collars and deep pockets, adorn elegant tank tops, skirts, and shorts in innovative fabrics such as silk Lurex, gauze twill, and metallic silk. "This collection is really optimistic and playful," Ms. Diep said. "Each collection has a little personality. I try to make each piece special so it can stand on its own, whether it's the fabric or the construction."
The palette comprises pastels, some bold primary hues including lemon yellow and poppy red and hints of jewel tones such as jade. "Every season we're trying to grow the collection," Ms. Diep said. This season, that means a handful of black-tie pieces intended to appeal to Hollywood actresses called to the red carpet, and Ms. Diep also collaborated with Lincoln New York, a bespoke outfit based in Italy, to produce electric blue, bespoke boots with stingray details.
As Ms. Diep casts a long glance at her creations, she confessed with a grin, "I thought it was going to be a little easier than this. [But] in terms of the work, the level of creativity I have, it's more than I could have ever imagined for myself as a designer."
