In Matters of Betel and Areca (Chuyện trầu cau)

Floor-length dark coat with one-piece gestural twist sleeve, buttons, and integrated bust shaping.

The Monastic Coat in virgin wool satin faille and washed lamé.

Convertible one-piece hood, lined in washed lamé.

Back detail of gray wool and satin long-sleeved long coat. Embroidered and embellished with inlaid iridescent flat sequins, bugle beads, and six-hole mother of pearl buttons.

Back detail: "Mother of Pearl" embroidery.

Extended back view of gray wool and satin long-sleeved long coat. Embroidered and embellished with inlaid iridescent flat sequins, bugle beads, and six-hole mother of pearl buttons. The coat's long gray back panels skim the floor.

The Monastic Coat in virgin wool satin faille and washed lamé.

Silver satin and gray wool convertible off-the-shoulder floor-length gown with oversize, silk-organza, ghost-orchid embellishment at waist.

Reimagined Monastic Coat: Convertible Dress with Ghost Orchid in Starched Silk Organza.

In Matters of Betel and Areca (Chuyện trầu cau) chronicles the physical divorce of Vietnamese immigrants from their motherland and the consequent uprooting of their former live's mise-en-scène. Derived from the Vietnamese phrase wherein the chewing of areca nut initiates matrimonial negotiations, the collection allegorizes this sacred custom to question the intimate engagements immigrants hold with the cultural memorabilia they carry along as cadavers of a past life forsaken.