A thing I love doing with fashion shoots is to take something native, eponymous with that country, and insert it overseas in a completely different environment and culture. In this case – Sass & Bide – a long time stalwart of the Australian fashion industry with their designs and influence over the last 3 decades, with their pieces being shown on the fashion mecca that is Sex & The City television show in years past, and gracing runways here and abroad along with magazine covers to name a few.

We shot a fashion editorial for this well known Australian label in Hoi An, Vietnam – prior to the pre wedding shoot with Van-Anh – www.vananhofficial.com – at a French styled villa amongst the ricefields, and at La Siesta Hotel, and assisted by Lysa. The collection is entitled The Prologue – a fitting name as it was also on the eve of Van-Anh’s incredible 3 day wedding in Hoi An to her fiance Mark.

Sass & Bide chose Van-Anh Nguyen as their role model for female empowerment. As a long time friend and collaborator – she is at the forefront of Vietnamese women in the creative and music genres for many years now. Seeing commercial success in Australia and internationally with her music albums and collaborations.

Here, I wanted to capture the essence of old Vietnam in the French colonial architecture and pastel colours, and contrasted by the modern female designs from Sass & Bide that gives the woman more presence, albeit in a relaxed manner. Then moving on to what embodies Van-Anh – being in front of a piano in a stage-grabbing dress design amidst modern colours and lighting, the perfect balance between classical, heritage and contemporary – just like Vietnam itself.