London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Meet Bach Mai, an American Couturier in Making

Meet Bach Mai, an American Couturier in Making

Bach Mai grew up in Houston as the son of Vietnamese immigrants. His American dream is to create a couture atelier in New York.


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.

“I fell in love with couture at a really young age because of John,” Mai says. “And it was always my dream to come back and be an American designer.” Mai’s debt to Galliano and his years at Margiela is clear in the bias draping of both a silver lurex panné velvet halter dress and a black flocked dot tulle and lace shawl collar godet gown. The curves of Cristobal Balenciaga and the mid-century photography of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon that captured them are obvious influences on the sculptural skirt volumes of his strapless and racer-back party dresses, but equally, he credits the pink frock Carrie Bradshaw famously faints in at Lincoln Center in Sex and the City. “That’s something that stuck with me as a kid,” he remembers.



Mai was a teenager in Houston when he began making clothes for his cousin and friends. In Texas in the high season Today, he’s 32, and he’s building his new label with the backing of Hurel, the imminent French textile supplier, in an arrangement that allows him to use materials “that young designers could only dream of.” A corded lace with a silver crystal holofoil treatment whose effect he describes as “intergalactic courtesan” stands out, as do the fil coupé organza jacquards based on the works Triumph of Galatea and the Green Paintings by his favorite artist Cy Twombly.



His bride wears another Hurel fil coupé organza, this one in white and matte silver, with Chantilly lace accents. “The most beautiful part of couture is the relationship between client and designer,” Mai says. “That’s why I want the heart of the collection to be these special made-to-order pieces.” Complementing the made-to-measure offerings are a sculpted-back bomber in silk moiré, boxy blazers and tear-away basketball shorts in transparent organza, and little moiré peplum tops and leather pencil skirts, a selection of which are now available by preorder on his website. Though they’re off-the-rack, they retain his couture’s unabashed femininity and irreverent glamour. The clothes are entirely made in New York.

“We do have the know-how here, the craftsmanship,” Mai says. “To help keep that alive and to build that back up is beautiful.” From his midtown studio he’s putting plans together to take his debut collection on the road. Texas friends are planning “couture Tupperware parties.” Back home in Houston, Mai’s parents are cheering him on. “My dad’s an engineer,” he says. “I learned from him how to break apart how things work. That’s why I’m so still fascinated by construction and how to put things together.” Step-by-step, his plan is to build the next American couture house.


Comments

General Butler 4 year ago
The headline is deficient, lacking the preface "Here's What's Wrong With the World".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×