Hmong Thai Fashion Show premieres in Saint Paul

Emily Bright: Well, happy Minnesota Fashion Week to all those who celebrate. An organization that has been showcasing Hmong designers for more than a decade is doing something new this spring. Six Hmong designers from Thailand will have their designs walk the runway in Saint Paul this Saturday. The Center for Hmong Talents and-- Arts and Talents is organizing the fashion show and executive director Steve Thao is here to talk about it. Hi, Steve.

STEVE THAO: Hi, thank you for having me on. I was just grooving to the music earlier that's great.

Emily Bright: Oh, I know. Me too. I love that song, and so let's talk about your organization. You put on a fashion show for Hmong designers called Fresh Traditions each fall, but for this spring event, you're highlighting designs by some artists from Thailand. How did this come about?

STEVE THAO: Well, the Hmong community, we're spread all over the world, but we're connected through our language, and our unique symbolism and our colors, and so this is a really unique event where we're bringing among designers coming out here, and we just want to connect Hmong Thailand and Hmong American, so we're really excited.

Emily Bright: Yeah I understand the show has been quite a while in the planning, but that not all of the designers from Thailand were able to get visas.

STEVE THAO: Yeah, really surprised. We got approved for two designers, and then when they went back to get their passports, they were told they were denied. So it's been a challenge. We kind of planned for plan B, plan C, and worst-case scenario. So we have video messages from them, and they're going to be joining us live on Zoom, so they could see the show, and also, they could share messages live to the audience, but we have two people from Thailand. We have Clare from the Era brand and we also have Latda Xiong, and she actually missed Hmong Thailand 2020, so we have a treat for our audience.

Emily Bright: Well, tell me a little bit about some of the designs and styles people will see.

STEVE THAO: So I've been very fortunate to travel the world to see Hmong design in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, and I tell you, each country is unique and special and vibrant, and so among Americans, we try to take the best of everything, but the people that will be coming to the show, they will have they have an opportunity to see some really creative and vibrant fusion of Hmong motifs, and I think the Thai designers will have some Thai influences also. So for me as someone who loves visual arts, I'm just going to sit back and relax and enjoy the spectacle of colors and the designs.

Emily Bright: Yeah, can you tell me a little bit about how traditional designs vary between Thai, Lao, and American Hmong fashion?

STEVE THAO: So with Vietnamese Hmong, their designs and their colors are more blue and black and a little bit more subdued, and with Lao designs, Hmong Lao designs, they're more simple, blue, red, green, a little pink, and what I've seen in Thai design is they have influences from the Thai fashion and Thai culture. So you have an explosion of really bright colors.

So for my very amateur eyes, those are what I see, and we have really good consultants on our team, and they can tell me where that region is from, and also, they can pinpoint around the era and the date. And I've always known that our clothes tell a story of where we're from, but I never realized it's where we're from and also when those clothes are manufactured, so it's a way to tell the story of who we are, to tell you the truth.

Emily Bright: Well, what other events have been happening leading up to this fashion show?

STEVE THAO: Well, we've been planning for several months since 2022, and during that day, we are going to have a vendor market, so we're going to have probably about 20 people-- 20 businesses selling arts and crafts, Hmong elements, Hmong designs, and if they are able-- people are able to come early, that's a free event.

So you can come there and grab some interesting drinks and some food and also buy some interesting clothes and handicrafts that are-- that have some Hmong motifs, and then if you are able to stay for the show, the show starts at 7:00, and it's a ticketed event, and it's almost sold out to tell you the truth, but we'd love for people to come and learn about our culture. Learn about the Hmong Thai culture too, and the two guests from Thailand, they'll be stepping out after the show to do a meet and greet and talk about their experience and then share anything that they have.

Emily Bright: Well, fantastic. Well, Steve, I hope you have a great show. Thanks for your time.

STEVE THAO: Thank you so much. Hopefully, we'll see you.

Emily Bright: Great. Well, Steve Thao is executive director for the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent. The Hmong Thai Fashion Show, as he said, is this Saturday evening at Union Depot in Saint Paul. The doors open at 5:00, show starts at 7:00, and if you want to find out more, MPR News Fellow Robyn Katona has a web story that has a-- it's a great story about this event. That's at mprnews.org, and I should tell you that arts programming on MPR News is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendments Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.