If there’s one thing Houston-native Bach Mai knows, it’s how to bring the drama to couture. Just ask some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Mai has dressed an enviable who’s who list of celebrities who aren’t afraid to take up space, including Jennifer Lopez, Megan Thee Stallion, Lucy Liu, and Amal Clooney.
Mai started dressmaking as a teen, eventually securing an apprenticeship with the Houston Ballet, and went on to work for such brands as Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, and under legendary designer John Galliano at Maison Margiela.
In 2021, he launched his own namesake label paying homage to his Vietnamese roots and earning renown for avant garde looks marrying old-school couture and modern femininity. Since then, his work has been featured in Vogue and WWD, as well as on the runways of New York Fashion Week.
So, of course, we’re thrilled to have the designer bring all of his fashion drama to “The Bomb Fashion Show LA,” presented by Cadillac, on October 14.
Before the show, we caught up with Mai to talk about his creative influences, what American luxury means to him, and how he’s translating Cadillac’s design legacy into a fashionable moment.
FASHION BOMB DAILY: How would you describe your design aesthetic?
BACH MAI: My work lives at the intersection of three pillars of inspiration: mid-century couture, Americana, and the Asian cultural influences I grew up with. I’ve always been enchanted by the golden age of couture: Dior, Balenciaga, Charles James, and the way they sculpted a woman’s silhouette with such romance and intention. I pair that with the heritage of American sportswear, real clothes for real women living real lives, all seen through the glamour and elegance I came to know growing up in Texas. The result is effusively feminine, a little audacious, and always joyful. I design for a woman who dresses for her own pleasure, who wants to stand out in the room, and who believes fashion should be fun.
FBD: What makes your work distinctly “you”?
BACH MAI: What makes it distinctly mine is that it’s rooted in couture technique, but never precious. It’s meant to be lived in, danced in, and remembered.
FBD: What excites you most about interpreting a luxury vehicle through your own creative lens?
BACH MAI: Cadillac is a true American icon, and there’s a beautiful kinship between its world and mine. Some of the most glamorous moments in American design history belong to Cadillac, in the same mid-century era that inspires so much of my work. What excited me most was finding the conversation between the two: the sweep of a fender and the sweep of a skirt, the precision of an engineered line and the precision of a tailored seam.
In curating these four looks, I was drawn to the idea of motion, of a woman arriving, and of the confidence you feel stepping out of something beautifully made. The Multiline points toward the future, and I love the idea of honoring that heritage of American glamour while imagining where it goes next.
FBD: How do you define luxury, and what role do craftsmanship, materials and detail play in that definition?
BACH MAI: For me, luxury is the feeling of something made with devotion. It’s the hours you can’t see: the hand finishing, the fittings, the hundred small decisions that make a garment feel effortless when it’s worn. I was fortunate to learn in the haute couture ateliers in Paris, and that experience taught me a deep reverence for craft.
Materials are where every piece begins. I’m drawn to beautiful, artisanal textiles that have a life and a story of their own. Detail is what makes a piece personal, and it’s why so much of what we do is made to order. True luxury isn’t about excess. It’s about intention, and about the joy a woman feels when she knows something was made just for her.
