New York Fashion Week – Bach Mai
BACH MAI
For me, Bach Mai’s reputation as a bold new designer of eveningwear was cemented when his first gown, a 1950’s pink and black ballgown number, appeared on Severence actress Britt Lower on the Golden Globes’ red carpet last year. At his first New York show, for spring 2024, he followed up with entirely new silhouettes.
You would have thought he was an old master. But spring 2024 was New York/Vietnamese designer Bach Mai’s first ever runway show. It was a stately affair, full of varied evening options: some sheer cream and print tiered ruffle gowns, some black full skirts paired with cropped black tops, one café-latte-foam colored off the shoulder corseted bodice with a “flou” tulle skirt – and a couple of Dior lipstick red looks, one with a ruched bodice – that proves he’s got a way with color and shape.. The voluminous strapless gowns in lotus prints had no flou (flow, movement, drape): meaning, they didn’t move or swirl, made from posture enhancing stiffer fabrics. I appreciate his nod to body diversity – and willingness to play with shapes – but I’m not sure moomoo’s with bare shoulders can flatter anyone. His shorter day looks – vests with short skirts – were not what he does best. However, the flowing (to the floor) caped tops over chic Katherine Hepburn-style trousers were a killer alternative to traditional eveningwear – and waaaaayyy more comfortable.
Merle Ginsberg is a fashion writer and television personality who was one of the judges on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the first two seasons of the show. She is also an award winning journalist and writer, and a NY Times bestselling author. She started her long media career in NY at the Village Voice, MTV and Rolling Stone. Then, moving to L.A., she wrote for People, Us, L.A. Times and W Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, where she presided over the West Coast bureau for 12 years, also contributing to L.A. Magazine, Jane and Details. She also served as Senior Style Editor of The Hollywood Reporter.
