A veteran of Maison Margiela, where he worked alongside John Galliano, Bach Mai founded his namesake label last year with the goal to bring back the tradition of American couture. A native of Houston who fell in love with couture through watching Galliano’s Dior shows online, Mai is inspired by debutantes and society mavens alike. He’s already dressed Venus Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kate Beckinsale and more.
For his first New York Fashion Week presentation, he showed 15 eveningwear looks on mannequins.
The look: Liquid ombre.
The inspiration: Cy Twombly’s “Blooming” flower paintings and traditional Japanese female dress.
Quote of note: “We’re still figuring out our hybrid couture/rtw model. We’re commercializing pieces from our last collection, which are at market this week. We dressed a lot of celebrities the last few months, and we’re out of dresses, so this will help with that since we’re leading into red carpet season. This new model also gives us the time to work on and develop gowns, then make them available commercially.”
Key pieces: Red and purple ombre Lurex velvet sleeveless blazer and pants, worn with black leather gilet; green ombre sleeveless double breasted blazer and pink ombre silk draped bias cut strapless cocktail dress with ombre chiffon stripes; raw edge silk chiffon volant ballgown.
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The takeaway: Mai has big ambitions, and backing from French fabric house Hurel Paris, which puts him ahead of many new designers. He just needs to work on finishing his pieces a bit more precisely to give them that true luxury quality.