About

Thai Nguyen / Couture Meets Custom

Fashion designer and creative director Thai Nguyen launched his eponymous label in 2002. He continues to be a key figure in the industry as he remains as one of the few Vietnamese American designers in the fashion world today.

Thai was born and raised in South Vietnam where his first foray into fashion began at a young age. He learned to sew when he was 9 years old and quickly honed his love for fashion. In 1993, Thai and his family immigrated to the United States. Despite his parents’ worries about the demands of the fashion world, Thai continued to pursue his dreams.

Thai graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 2002. He joined BCBG Max Azria as an associate designer straight out of FIDM. After two years there, he yearned for creative freedom and left to start his own line. His label quickly evolved into the brand’s feminine yet modern styling with a keen eye to exquisite detailing by which is he is known for today.

Since then, Thai’s designs have been featured in fashion’s top publications and graced the red carpets including the Met Gala, the Oscars, the Grammy Awards, and countless movie and television premieres. Thai’s dresses have appeared in Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, and New Beauty. Clients such as Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale, Katy Perry, Cindy Crawford, Alison Brie, Lala Anthony, Leona Lewis, Kristen Bell, Kelly Marie Tran, Juliette Lewis, Katharine McPhee, Nicole Scherzinger, Laverne Cox, Lais Riberiro, and Jasmine Tookes along with countless others have all reveled in Thai’s custom designs.

Thai now produces both custom womenswear Thai Nguyen Atelier and menswear TNA Homme collections for clients in the US and abroad, in addition to a ready to wear line – T’aime – for women. Current projects for Thai include representing Vietnam as one of 50 international judges on the World’s Best (airing on CBS in Spring 2019), a weekly style recap on his show on DirecTV, and a fashion podcast.

Thai lives and works in Orange County. He and his business partner, Helen Nguyen, established the Thai Nguyen Couture Atelier together from its early beginnings. In 2018, they added another partner, Hanh Le, who has helped spearhead the T’aime line. Together, Thai, Helen, and Hanh invites you to experience Thai Nguyen Atelier through its personal couture consultations.