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Documentary by Spira Films
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THE FILM
91 min | UK, USA | 2026
The Long Dress is a 91-minute feature documentary that explores Vietnam through one of its most enduring cultural traditions, the Vietnamese national dress, Áo Dài. While the country is often introduced through fragments of its history, the film turns instead to the quieter ways a nation remembers itself.
Filmed across Vietnam, the United Kingdom and the United States, the documentary brings together designers, artists, cultural figures and members of the Vietnamese diaspora, each connected to the Áo Dài in profoundly different ways. Their stories unfold across studios, family homes, workshops and international runways, revealing a tradition that has never remained fixed, but has continued to change with every generation that has worn it.
Combining intimate personal stories with cinematic imagery, The Long Dress is ultimately a film about the ways people preserve, reinterpret and pass on culture across generations. Though rooted in Vietnam, it speaks to a universal human experience, the search for home and the desire to belong.
Born in Ho Chi Minh City in 1957, Mai Lâm emigrated to Australia after the Vietnam War in 1977 before returning to live and work in Vietnam in 1994. It is difficult to describe Mai Lâm with a single title. She is an artist whose life has unfolded through many forms of making: designer, chef, florist, homemaker and story teller. Through Mai Lâm Wearable Art, she transforms fabric, found objects and traditional craftsmanship into sculptural works that blur the boundaries between fashion and art. Each piece carries traces of her own memory and lived experience. She offers a deeply personal reflection on creativity, identity and belonging. Her work reminds us that the áo dài can become a living canvas for memory, connecting the past with the present through the quiet act of making something by hand.
FROM THE FILM
MAI LAM
Designer, Mai Lam wearbale art
Born in Ho Chi Minh City in 1957, Mai Lâm emigrated to Australia after the Vietnam War in 1977 before returning to live and work in Vietnam in 1994. It is difficult to describe Mai Lâm with a single title. She is an artist whose life has unfolded through many forms of making: designer, chef, florist, homemaker and story teller. Through Mai Lâm Wearable Art, she transforms fabric, found objects and traditional craftsmanship into sculptural works that blur the boundaries between fashion and art. Each piece carries traces of her own memory and lived experience. She offers a deeply personal reflection on creativity, identity and belonging. Her work reminds us that the áo dài can become a living canvas for memory, connecting the past with the present through the quiet act of making something by hand.
Born and raised in London to a Vietnamese family, Anna Hoàng represents a new generation navigating identity across cultures. From a very young age, Anna has shown a deep passion for her heritage and a strong commitment to fostering cultural understanding through her work in fashion and community engagement. In 2019, at the tender age of 10, Anna co-founded the Love Collection with her friend. This fashion brand was created with the vision of promoting Vietnamese culture to an international audience while preserving it for future generations. Her collections focus on designing contemporary versions of the Áo Dài, blending Vietnamese and British cultural elements. In February 2023, at just 13, Anna's Colours of Vietnam-England collection was presented during the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United Kingdom. The collection featured Áo Dài designs inspired by famous cultural and historical sites from both countries, symbolising the harmonious blend of her dual heritage.
FROM THE FILM
ANNA HOANG
Designer, Love Collection
Born and raised in London to a Vietnamese family, Anna Hoàng represents a new generation navigating identity across cultures. From a very young age, Anna has shown a deep passion for her heritage and a strong commitment to fostering cultural understanding through her work in fashion and community engagement. In 2019, at the tender age of 10, Anna co-founded the Love Collection with her friend. This fashion brand was created with the vision of promoting Vietnamese culture to an international audience while preserving it for future generations. Her collections focus on designing contemporary versions of the Áo Dài, blending Vietnamese and British cultural elements. In February 2023, at just 13, Anna's Colours of Vietnam-England collection was presented during the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United Kingdom. The collection featured Áo Dài designs inspired by famous cultural and historical sites from both countries, symbolising the harmonious blend of her dual heritage.
Madame Trang Le is one of the leading figures in Vietnam’s fashion industry. She is the President of Vietnam International Fashion Week, CEO of MultiMedia JSC, and President of the Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD). Over the past two decades, she has helped shape Vietnam’s contemporary fashion landscape by creating platforms for designers to reach international audiences. She has also produced some of the country’s most influential fashion television programmes, including Vietnam’s Next Top Model, Project Runway Vietnam, and The Face Vietnam, helping launch the careers of many of Vietnam’s leading models and designers. In The Long Dress documentary, Madame Trang Le reflects on the evolving role of the áo dài in contemporary fashion and the balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing innovation.
FROM THE FILM
TRANG LE
Designer & President, Vietnam International Fashion Week
Madame Trang Le is one of the leading figures in Vietnam’s fashion industry. She is the President of Vietnam International Fashion Week, CEO of MultiMedia JSC, and President of the Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD). Over the past two decades, she has helped shape Vietnam’s contemporary fashion landscape by creating platforms for designers to reach international audiences. She has also produced some of the country’s most influential fashion television programmes, including Vietnam’s Next Top Model, Project Runway Vietnam, and The Face Vietnam, helping launch the careers of many of Vietnam’s leading models and designers. In The Long Dress documentary, Madame Trang Le reflects on the evolving role of the áo dài in contemporary fashion and the balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing innovation.
Madame Trang Le is one of the leading figures in Vietnam’s fashion industry. She is the President of Vietnam International Fashion Week, CEO of MultiMedia JSC, and President of the Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD). Over the past two decades, she has helped shape Vietnam’s contemporary fashion landscape by creating platforms for designers to reach international audiences. She has also produced some of the country’s most influential fashion television programmes, including Vietnam’s Next Top Model, Project Runway Vietnam, and The Face Vietnam, helping launch the careers of many of Vietnam’s leading models and designers. In The Long Dress documentary, Madame Trang Le reflects on the evolving role of the áo dài in contemporary fashion and the balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing innovation.
FROM THE FILM
DUC HUNG
Designer
Madame Trang Le is one of the leading figures in Vietnam’s fashion industry. She is the President of Vietnam International Fashion Week, CEO of MultiMedia JSC, and President of the Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD). Over the past two decades, she has helped shape Vietnam’s contemporary fashion landscape by creating platforms for designers to reach international audiences. She has also produced some of the country’s most influential fashion television programmes, including Vietnam’s Next Top Model, Project Runway Vietnam, and The Face Vietnam, helping launch the careers of many of Vietnam’s leading models and designers. In The Long Dress documentary, Madame Trang Le reflects on the evolving role of the áo dài in contemporary fashion and the balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing innovation.
For more than two decades, Lan Huong has dedicated her work to preserving and reimagining Vietnam's cultural heritage through the áo dài. Drawing inspiration from traditional folk art, she incorporates motifs from Dong Ho and Hang Trong paintings into her designs, allowing centuries-old visual traditions to find new life through contemporary craftsmanship. Her work extends beyond the atelier. Collaborating with artisan communities across Vietnam, Lan Hương helps preserve traditional techniques such as hand embroidery and silverwork, ensuring that these skills continue to be practised rather than simply remembered. Her collections have been presented both in Vietnam and internationally, including exhibitions at 48 Hang Ngang in Hanoi, the nation's most significant historic locations, where President Ho Chi Minh drafted Vietnam's Declaration of Independence in 1945. Her work brings fashion, history and cultural memory into conversation.
FROM THE FILM
LAN HUONG
Heritage Designer & Craft Preservationist
For more than two decades, Lan Huong has dedicated her work to preserving and reimagining Vietnam's cultural heritage through the áo dài. Drawing inspiration from traditional folk art, she incorporates motifs from Dong Ho and Hang Trong paintings into her designs, allowing centuries-old visual traditions to find new life through contemporary craftsmanship. Her work extends beyond the atelier. Collaborating with artisan communities across Vietnam, Lan Hương helps preserve traditional techniques such as hand embroidery and silverwork, ensuring that these skills continue to be practised rather than simply remembered. Her collections have been presented both in Vietnam and internationally, including exhibitions at 48 Hang Ngang in Hanoi, the nation's most significant historic locations, where President Ho Chi Minh drafted Vietnam's Declaration of Independence in 1945. Her work brings fashion, history and cultural memory into conversation.
For more than two decades, Lan Huong has dedicated her work to preserving and reimagining Vietnam's cultural heritage through the áo dài. Drawing inspiration from traditional folk art, she incorporates motifs from Dong Ho and Hang Trong paintings into her designs, allowing centuries-old visual traditions to find new life through contemporary craftsmanship. Her work extends beyond the atelier. Collaborating with artisan communities across Vietnam, Lan Hương helps preserve traditional techniques such as hand embroidery and silverwork, ensuring that these skills continue to be practised rather than simply remembered. Her collections have been presented both in Vietnam and internationally, including exhibitions at 48 Hang Ngang in Hanoi, the nation's most significant historic locations, where President Ho Chi Minh drafted Vietnam's Declaration of Independence in 1945. Her work brings fashion, history and cultural memory into conversation.
FROM THE FILM
THAI NGUYEN
Designer
For more than two decades, Lan Huong has dedicated her work to preserving and reimagining Vietnam's cultural heritage through the áo dài. Drawing inspiration from traditional folk art, she incorporates motifs from Dong Ho and Hang Trong paintings into her designs, allowing centuries-old visual traditions to find new life through contemporary craftsmanship. Her work extends beyond the atelier. Collaborating with artisan communities across Vietnam, Lan Hương helps preserve traditional techniques such as hand embroidery and silverwork, ensuring that these skills continue to be practised rather than simply remembered. Her collections have been presented both in Vietnam and internationally, including exhibitions at 48 Hang Ngang in Hanoi, the nation's most significant historic locations, where President Ho Chi Minh drafted Vietnam's Declaration of Independence in 1945. Her work brings fashion, history and cultural memory into conversation.
For more than two years, we have travelled across cities and continents, documenting extraordinary lives connected by one timeless garment, the ÁO DÀI, a Vietnamese national costume.
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