For KYHA Bride founder and designer, Kyha Scott, each collection begins not with fabric, but with a feeling—a place, a rhythm, a pulse that draws her in. 'Waterlines' is both an homage and an awakening: a journey through Vietnam’s landscapes, craftsmanship, and the artistry of water itself. Guided by curiosity and connection, Scott immersed herself in the country’s culture and its deep respect for process—learning ancient weaving techniques, tracing silk back to its origins, and distilling these discoveries into form and movement. The result is a collection that glows with quiet complexity: fluid yet architectural, grounded yet ethereal.
Exclusively invited to experience the collection’s world firsthand, THE WED traveled to Amanoi in Vietnam—the very place that inspired 'Waterlines'—for an intimate multi-day launch event and runway show. There, amidst the stillness of the sea and sculpted hills, we sat down with Kyha to take an inside look at the makings of the collection and runway show, and to reflect on travel as muse, the poetry of craftsmanship, and how design becomes storytelling when shaped by place.
Tell us the story and journey of Waterlines, and what drew you to Vietnam for this collection?
So the concept first came about actually from within our own team. The team know that I take my inspiration from travel, locations, and landscapes through every collection, it’s a very strong part of how I design. We have a handful of Vietnamese employees throughout our team and they’re all very proud of their country. I was chatting with our pattern maker one day and she had just recently returned to her home in Vietnam. As I sat down with her, we started going through some of her photos and I was so taken aback by how beautiful the landscape was and how little I knew about Vietnam.
I went away and thought about how I’m going to bring this to life. And it starts off going wide – I took in so many different locations around Vietnam – the colours, the textures, and of course the water, which the brand has a huge affinity to. I understood how dedicated to their craft and level of craftsmanship the people are, it really struck me. I learnt so much about the people, the culture, the places, and immersed myself there, which was a really incredible experience. For me, it was about making sure that we could create a strong theme throughout the collection so then I started sketching away and gathering different sources of inspiration through fabric.
Along your journey throughout Vietnam, what forms of craftsmanship and techniques that you discovered resonated most deeply with you, and how did you incorporate them into the collection?
It was during one of our trips, we were in a village in North Vietnam in Ninh Binh. We sat down with the community and they taught us how to not only weave mats and baskets, but also how to weave the boats that you saw in the campaign video at the same village. The women spent the time with me to show me how they would set their traditional looms - they showed me every part of the process and then let me experiment with it myself. It takes an incredible amount of patience and skill to master. I really wanted to celebrate and bring that technique into the collection and share it with the world because it's such an incredible skill, so we worked closely with the community to bring some unique woven pieces to life that were featured in the show.
How did the Vietnamese culture influence your designs, and what was your approach to weaving it through the collection?
The lotus, Vietnam’s national flower, was a huge inspiration for Waterlines throughout the collection - you can see it interpreted in the sweetheart necklines, the draped tulle gowns, and some of the blooming skirt silhouettes. We’ve also introduced a new true ivory silk satin that’s a testament to the silk making they do in Vietnam. Also, another interesting influence for us is lace. We don’t often work with lace, but we’re doing it a little bit more now which I’m loving, and it’s a beautiful nod to the traditional lace of Vietnam.
This season you’ve explored tones of verdant green and gilded earths, mirroring the lush jungles and inky waters of Vietnam. How did these hues shape the overall mood and movement of the collection?
You can find incredibly deep greens within the landscapes of Vietnam and I wanted to celebrate and highlight that throughout the collection. And then I think those rich, earthy tones, I wanted to translate that into the fabric, and mirror the water with fabrics that really bounce light.
It’s these unique, unexpected fabrications that inject a sense of freshness into the collection and bring the story to life. Walk us through your process of how you sourced fabrics for the collection?
I have a library of sourcing that I always have on hand. For those particular fabrics, they were ones that were sourced with a very certain look in mind for this collection. So I go out to many different suppliers around the world and describe to them, sometimes through a mood board, sometimes through a very specific colour, and they will come back to me with options. Then I'll work through that and work through development — how is that fabric going to fall, how is it going to drape, has it got the structure of what I want it to do and behave the way it is. And that's an exciting process, to then see that come to life and hone in on what is going to be the best option for that gown.
Nature is threaded through every KYHA collection and campaign as both muse and medium. Your unique design process first begins with choosing the destination—allowing the spirit of place to truly shape the collection. Why is it important to you to design in this way, and how does it expand your creative language?
For me, when I have a concept or an idea for a collection, it always starts with a location or a place. Learning a new way, a new culture, a new place, discovering — it let’s the creativity flow and then I can really immerse myself. It allows me to think beyond the more traditional way of designing and being referential. It just allows me to explore things further, and I do like to understand a concept end to end. I like to understand what the images are going to look like — how do I imagine bringing the gowns to life through imagery, how do I want to tell that story, what do I want the event to look like, how do I want it to feel. By designing this way, it allows me to look at the whole collection in such a holistic way that feels very authentic and very original to me.
You’ve flown in guests from every corner of the world for this multi-day collection launch. Walk us through what it takes to orchestrate an event of this scale, and how collaboration with local communities brought the vision to life?
From the moment we knew Vietnam was going to be the place where the collection was inspired by and where we would shoot, we immediately connected with the community and worked with a local producer who was incredibly helpful in connecting us with local artisans and a network of people who are creatively brilliant — from stylists, models and even a DJ. He also connected us with the old silk factories and the more remote communities so we could immerse ourselves with the people.
One of the things that has really seen the brand evolve through this collection is bringing together what we believe is an incredibly considered experience. Everything we do is so intentional, so it was almost a no-brainer to hold the event in Vietnam, we wanted others to experience the beauty of the country — the people and the craft — and truly bring the collection to life in it’s origin. And it felt like the right time to bring guests into our world and let them feel at home too.
You’ve never prescribed to bridal norms, often setting the trends and blurring the lines between bridal and fashion. In your eyes, what does “bridal” mean today, and how would you define KYHA’s unique approach and position in the bridal landscape?
I think, for me, bridal has always been — and the reason the brand started — the beginnings of our individuality. I think being able to express yourself and feel beautiful and feel empowered in an outfit that feels like you is really important. So I think that’s how we’ve always approached collections, design, the brand, and that is why it’s important to me.
How do you consciously balance trends and timelessness within your designs?
I think I am either a maximalist or a minimalist. There are trends, but we always have to make sure we go too far that we feel like we’re doing something just for the sake of doing it. It always needs to have a place and have a meaning within the suite of the collection. I do want my clients to always look back and remember the feeling of being beautiful, and feeling like that was the right choice for them in that moment.
Now that this collection is over, my focus will be on starting to move into a new category - Ready-to-Wear. It’s been a very exciting project in the works for a long time, we’re in the midst of bringing it to life to launch November 2025.
