The first program “A walk to the sky” of “fashion voyage”, which just took place in july at Sun World Bà Nà hills (Da Nang), still arouses a lot of emotions to its audience and the production team. This is a unique show in VietNam, which took place at an altitude of 1,414 metres on the golden bridge crossing the sky. Many beautiful models and powerful famous celebrities of VietNam attended this great event. And Wanderlust Tips had an interview with director Long Kan – the initiator and producer of this one-of-a-kind voyage.
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After such a dreamy first journey “A Walk To The Sky” of Fashion Voyage 2018, did you feel like coming back to the real world?
Long Kan: (Laugh) Only one week after the show could my mind leave the dreamy world. Everything was so fantastic and romantic like a dream, but sometimes it felt so chaotic and tense like I was in a nightmare. It can be said that the time spent on preparing for this first fashion voyage was when I felt the most inspiration for my future plans. Someone said that I was a bit crazy and unrealistic when carrying out this project, but I always maintain optimism and believe that our production team’s effort, dedication, and great passion will be rewarded.
Though many people considered it crazy, why did you still decide to carry out this big project?
Long Kan: When I told my close friends, supermodel Thanh Hang, Truc Diem, fashion director Ta Nguyen Phuc, designers Chung Thanh Phong and Le Thanh Hoa about my idea for this project, they supported me unconditionally as we all had a dream and desire to do something meaningful together. I have a great passion for fashion, and I am so lucky to be accompanied by a lot of partners and soulmates who share my dream of leaving our mark in this world. Whenever I felt stressful or struggled with my work and wanted to give up, I often thought about the expectations people had for me and the reasons why I wanted to carry out this project. Fashion Voyage is not just to explore and enjoy the world of fashion, but also to experience a journey of friendship and soulmates to reach a crazy dream together.
What inspired you to come up with the idea of Fashion Voyage, and what do you want to achieve through this program?
I love fashion and have undertaken quite a lot of fashion shows ordered by customers, but I always dream of organizing my own show in which my production team and I can cultivate our greatest creativity. After many occasions when I was in charge of overseas fashion shows, I realized that the appeal of a destination is not only for its beautiful scenery, traditional culture and history but also from the charm of fashion. It can be said that journeys around the world have inspired me to make a plan for Fashion Voyage.
Fashion Voyage carries my ambition of a voyage to bring designers and fashion brands to an ambiance that features the most majestic nature and exclusive architecture in Vietnam and around the world.
After Fashion Voyage, the Golden Bridge became a hot check-in attraction of millions of visitors in Vietnam and was featured in many famous international websites/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook like TIME, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, 9GAG, BuzzFeed.com, and Streetartglobe. Do you think this will put great pressure on the upcoming program and the plans of Fashion Voyage?
Long Kan: Vietnam has many magnificent tourist sites and unknown beautiful attractions to raise the curiosity and draw the attention of people who have a passion for fashion and travelling. In the near future, I will broaden the scale of the programs to the international market. Fashion Voyage will be held twice a year depending on the weather, geographical conditions, and expenditure. For a fashion show, trendy features and designers are the most important elements. I hope to harmonize different elements to promote Vietnamese fashion at international destinations and introduce Vietnam’s attractions to famous foreign designers who attend the show.
Besides your devotion to work, which passion helps you to relax, keep balance in life, and maintain your creativity?
I was born with a passion for work and I devoted most of my time for working. To keep balance in life, I usually combine working with other interests such as travelling. I travel to explore, admire and dream. After every fashion show, I spent a lot of time exploring new lands, it is more amazing than any dreams. I think travelling help me to broaden my horizon bring out of my safe zone to discover new and wonderful things. Moreover, it is the inspiration to create colourful and fashionable works of art.
Could you share with us your most memorable journeys?
Some places provoked a lot of emotions in me from the very first moment I arrived. I loved Santorini (Greece), there I found peace and an intense love for nature when walking on each step and wandering in every corner of the famous Oia village. The charm of Santorini lies within the philosophy of union of humanity and the true interaction of nature and humans. And I went back there twice to carry out some fashion photoshoots. Santorini has many majestic natural sceneries, which are so beautiful that anyone who has a passion for photography should not miss. Though featuring only two main colours white and blue, Santorini attracts a lot of visitors who flock to this paradise.
And one of the most impressive destinations in my journey was England. I had a chance to take part in many fashion shows there such as the performances of Vietnamese Student Association in England and projects to promote Vietnamese culture and tourism to overseas Vietnamese and foreigners. The images of Ao Dai appearing in fron of the London Tower Bridge in Vietnam Discovery London 2015 still remains on my mind until now, my team and I were so lucky to have participated in the show. Also, I visited a lot of well-known attractions in England and wandered through the streets of London, Cambridge, Oxford, explored ancient cities like Bath, York Minster, and the most beautiful ancient village Bibury. Sometimes, I spent time enjoying a cup of coffee in front of the house of William Shakespeare in Stratfordupon-Avon, admiring the stunning nature of the Lake District or the famous wonder Stonehenge. England is my dream country where I intend to hold a fashion show for the Fashion Voyage in the near future.
Thank you so much for sharing interesting information with us. We wish you success with your plan for fashion in the future.
Wanderlust Tips