By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)
There are designers who talk about sustainability. Then there are designers who quietly build an entire universe around it.
For Vietnamese designer Kha Hoang Ngo, founder of KHAAR World, recycling is only the beginning. Fabric scraps become pixels. Traditional craftsmanship meets digital technology. What others discard becomes the starting point for something unexpectedly beautiful.
Founded in 2022, KHAAR arrived at a time when uncertainty seemed to define everything.
Rather than chasing trends, he chose to build a label that asks bigger questions about fashion’s purpose, while embracing Vietnamese craftsmanship, upcycling and emerging technologies such as 3D design and augmented reality.
Ahead of the label’s continued expansion across Southeast Asia, including a new stockist in Kuala Lumpur later this year, Couture Troopers caught up with Kha Hoang Ngo to talk about building KHAAR World, the ideas behind his recent LEGO Botanicals collaboration, and why fashion should create value far beyond the clothes themselves.
Couture Troopers: KHAAR World feels like a universe rather than just a fashion label. What was the earliest seed of this world? Was there a moment where you realised you were building a language rather than simply making clothes?
Kha Hoang Ngo: KHAAR was founded in early 2022, when the world was emerging from COVID. We were adapting to a new normal, but new conflicts and wars soon followed across different parts of the world. Watching those global shifts made me question my own sense of stability.
At that time, I had a secure career in a global fashion company, but I kept asking myself what real value fashion brings to people’s lives. If everything changed tomorrow, would fashion still matter?
Winning the Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam New Gen Fashion Award in 2020 became a turning point because it introduced me to sustainable fashion through recycling textile waste. It completely changed how I thought about design.
That’s how KHAAR was born. I wanted to build a brand that combines Vietnamese craftsmanship, recycled materials and new technologies to create value beyond aesthetics.
The name itself reflects that philosophy. “Kha” comes from my own name, while “AR” stands for both Augmented Reality and And Recycling, bringing together digital innovation and circular craftsmanship.
CT: Sustainability often comes with limitations, but your work never feels restricted by them. How do your personal values shape the way you design?
Kha Hoang Ngo: I’ve always believed I was born to seek and create beauty.
Working with recycled materials means constantly designing within limitations because the materials are often imperfect or unpredictable. But instead of seeing those limitations as obstacles, I see them as opportunities to discover something new.
To me, a fashion designer is a problem solver. Creativity isn’t only about making beautiful things. It’s about finding meaningful solutions.
Working with textile waste has also changed the way I look at everyday life. Wherever I go, I instinctively notice discarded materials and immediately begin imagining what they could become.
That mindset has stayed with me since the beginning. In fact, the first working title for KHAAR’s debut collection was Go and Collect.
CT: Your LEGO Botanicals collection introduced a fascinating mix of nature, construction and digital imagery. Where did that idea begin?
Kha Hoang Ngo: I imagined a world where flowers no longer grow only from soil, but also emerge from data and reconstructed materials.
Inspired by Singapore’s botanical gardens, I pictured looking at them through a digital screen where everything becomes pixelated. That became the starting point for FLORA.EXE – Where Pixels Blossom.
The garments were created from recycled and upcycled textiles using patchwork, quilting, embroidery and surface manipulation. I wanted the pixelated flowers to feel like they were blooming from inside the garments.
Working with LEGO was also a reminder that creativity often becomes stronger when we embrace limitations.
Whenever I felt mentally exhausted during the collection, I found myself assembling LEGO flowers. It stopped feeling like work and became genuine play.
I think that’s the magic of LEGO.
CT: Where does every collection usually begin for you?
Kha Hoang Ngo: Almost always with colour.
Colour helps organise the chaos in my mind. Every palette creates a rhythm that guides the rest of the collection.
As I began breaking down textile waste into tiny pieces, I realised they looked remarkably similar to digital pixels. Individually they seem insignificant, but together they create an entire image.
My work has always been about rediscovering those smallest building blocks and assembling them into something entirely new.
CT: Your work often sits somewhere between fashion and sculpture. How do craftsmanship and technology coexist in your process?
Kha Hoang Ngo: They’re never opposites. At KHAAR, we move constantly between handcrafted techniques and digital tools. We build something by hand, translate it into 3D, refine it digitally, then return to physical making.
I actually see digital practice as a new form of craftsmanship.
The artisan’s hands have simply evolved into a mouse, a keyboard, 3D software and now AI. The tools have changed, but the patience, precision and responsibility remain exactly the same.
Everything usually clicks when the digital model and the handcrafted prototype finally begin speaking the same language.
CT: What has been the biggest challenge in building KHAAR?
Kha Hoang Ngo: Making responsible fashion commercially viable.
Responsible materials and handcrafted recycled textiles require significantly more time, labour and investment than conventional production.
Just as important is educating the market. We spend a lot of time helping customers understand why these pieces carry value beyond the finished garment.
As a young brand, we’re constantly learning, adapting and changing direction. That’s simply part of building KHAAR.
CT: How do you see yourself within the new generation of Vietnamese designers?
Kha Hoang Ngo: I think Vietnamese fashion is going through an exciting moment.
Many younger designers are rediscovering local heritage while expressing it through contemporary design.
I see KHAAR as part of that movement, working at the intersection of Vietnamese craftsmanship, responsible materials and digital tools.
At the same time, many of us across Southeast Asia share similar experiences. We’re all trying to build something distinctive while navigating limited resources and growing creative industries.
That uncertainty is challenging, but it’s also what makes our work honest and experimental.
CT: What continues to inspire you creatively?
Kha Hoang Ngo: I find inspiration everywhere.
Vietnamese culture remains my greatest source of inspiration, whether it’s traditional craftsmanship, folklore or everyday life.
Each collection reflects a different chapter in KHAAR’s own journey. One explored the symbolism of Vietnamese women’s hair. Another was inspired by a mother’s milk as a symbol of nourishment and growth.
More recently, I’ve been exploring what I call Neo-Folklore, imagining Vietnamese traditions through a contemporary lens.
CT: What’s next for KHAAR World?
Kha Hoang Ngo: I want KHAAR to become more than a fashion label.
We’re continuing to develop two collections every year while expanding across Southeast Asia, including a new stockist opening in Kuala Lumpur this August.
At the same time, we’re building our first virtual showroom with ARXY, allowing buyers to experience fully realised 3D garments remotely.
For me, KHAAR World is becoming a place where craftsmanship, innovation and imagination continue evolving together.
CT: When someone encounters KHAAR for the first time, what do you hope they take away?
Kha Hoang Ngo: Most people first notice that the garments are beautiful.
Only afterwards do they discover they’re made from recycled textile waste.
That moment of surprise is important to me.
At KHAAR, we don’t create “trashion”. We transform discarded materials into refined, luxurious fashion. If we can change the way people see waste, then we’ve done our job.
Kha Hoang Ngo speaks about his work with quiet conviction, not grand declarations.
That may be why KHAAR feels less like a brand chasing a movement and more like one patiently building its own world—stitched together from craftsmanship, innovation and the belief that even the smallest detail can become something beautiful.
