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Sep 27, 2021 / 16:37

Designing cocktail and party dresses from Vietnamese specialties

Ho Chi Minh city-based fashion designer amazes people with his creations that are made from food.

Young fashion design talent Nguyen Minh Cong has recently introduced his unique collection entitled “Fashion Food” featuring women's cocktail and party dresses that are made from Vietnamese southern specialties.

The tasty funky creations of Vietnamese fashion designer Nguyen Minh Cong. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Minh Cong

During the shelter-in-place days, Cong has a chance to spend a lot of time with his family in the southern city of Vinh Long. They cook and enjoy their food together. With the help from his parent, he has designed his collection using folk cake materials such as banh xeo (sizzling cake), banh uot (wet cake), banh la mit (jackfruit leaf cake), banh tam khoai mi (cassava silkworm cake) especially, the banh da lon (pork skin cake) - one among top delicious pastries in the world honored by TasteAtlas.

The fashion designer creates his artwork from food. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Minh Cong

This wonderful dress is created from sizzling cake and raw vegetables that are served as a side dish. The designer shared that he came up with the idea of using daily homemade food to create gorgeous costumes in order to satisfy his career nostalgia. 

“This way enabled me to satisfy the fashion passion and also show off my cooking skills,” said Cong. 

The eye-catching evening dress is created from che suong sa hat luu (Vietnamese grass jelly dessert) - a favorite dish of many people on hot summer days.

The pigskin cake is transformed into a stylish prom dress. The designer said that creating fashion from food is hard work. It took him a great deal of time to come up with ideas, prepare ingredients, then, fix the details colorfully and attractively. “It took me a whole day, even two days, to create a dress made from food,” said Cong.


The fashion work was made from jackfruit leaf cake by Cong. He had to stuff the rice flour, cut it into pieces with the shape of a leaf, steamed them up to create this “transparent outfit”.

This soft-tiered dress is made from a sweet wet cake. The designer uses grated coconut and stewed green beans to sprinkle on the body of the dress, simulating the stones that are meticulously attached to the outfit.

Those who love steamed rice water fern cake will surely be surprised to see the impressive attire created by the designer. Cong meticulously cut the cake into small triangles and then assembled it into this gorgeous dress.
This 5-tier tassel clothing is made from colorful delicious cassava silkworm cake. The highlight of this design is the impressive ombre part with various colorful pieces of cake are placed next to one another.
Nguyen Minh Cong’s parents helped him to make the collection. The designer’s family wishes to introduce the richness and uniqueness of Southern cuisine to people locally and internationally. “The precious moment that the whole family spent time together creating the collection made me so happy. This is the longest and most meaningful time of mine after many years living far away from home,” he stated.