H'Hen Nie's bread outfit is suspected of borrowing ideas from Thailand.

Miss Universe Vietnam H'Hen Nie announced that she chose "Banh Mi" as her national costume for the Miss Universe contest on November 21. The costume was designed by designer Pham Phuoc Dien and was inspired by Vietnam's famous street food.

The costume received a lot of attention from both Vietnamese and international audiences after its announcement. However, on some forums, many Thai fans said that "Banh Mi" borrowed ideas from the contestants of Miss Grand Thailand. At this contest in 2017, the beauty from Chanthaburi province - attracted attention with an outfit inspired by durian - a specialty of the place where she lives. In 2018, the contestant from Nakhon Si Thammarat province delighted Thai audiences when she appeared in an outfit reminiscent of Tom Yum - a famous dish of the land of golden temples.

The clash of culinary ideas became the cause of controversy in "Banh Mi". ReplyNgoisao.net, Pham Phuoc Dien - the owner of the "Banh Mi" collection said that he also received many responses comparing it with the two costumes "Sau Rieng" and "Tom Yum". Phuoc Dien affirmed that he came up with the idea for the "Banh Mi" drawing in 2017 to participate in the National Costume Design Contest for Miss Universe Vietnam, while "Tom Yum" was performed on the Miss Grand Thailand stage in July 2018: "If we keep comparing foreign cultures with Vietnam, it would be unfair. Culinary ideas often have many similarities, but the spirit of Vietnamese culture is completely different. The costume I designed for H'Hen has its own unique features such as: bread, conical hat, and the word 'Vietnam' right on the costume".

The organizers of Miss Universe Vietnam shared that the national costume of the Vietnamese representative is not a national costume but a costume that can reflect: the place, people, cuisine, and typical culture of that country. According to the organizers, the idea of ​​bringing food and cuisine to design national costumes is no longer strange and many countries have done it: "We also encourage creative ideas that can be seen as pioneering. This is the first time we have a national costume based on the culinary idea in Vietnam in general and Miss Universe in particular."

Phuoc Dien added that when he entered the "National Costume Design" contest, the deadline for submitting applications was just around the corner, but he was still stuck for ideas. One day, while passing through District 1 (HCMC), he witnessed foreign tourists lining up to buy grilled meat sandwiches from a street vendor and praising how delicious they were. At that moment, the young designer came up with the idea of ​​introducing Vietnamese cuisine to international friends - something that no one had done before.

However, the process of making the costume encountered many difficulties, and he even wanted to ask the organizers to withdraw. Phuoc Dien had to print the fabric for the third time to get the right color as the real bread outside. Not to mention, the initial design was made by Phuoc Dien alone, so time was limited because he had to work during the day. He also realized that he was not good at fashion because his major was interior and exterior decoration. "The first design released received too many compliments and criticisms. Luckily, designer Thuan Viet, Miss H'Hen Nie and advisor Nguyen Huu Binh all gave me advice and supported me in completing the design."

Phuoc Dien hopes that H'Hen Nie will convey a new message about the country's culinary culture as well as promote Vietnamese bread - one of the best street foods in the world at Miss Universe 2018: "H'Hen needs to perform in a way that makes the audience feel curious or crave to come to Vietnam to try bread once. This will be a very unique way to promote Vietnamese tourism. I believe Hen will be able to do this after the first time.auditionyesterday".