Thai Nguyen (born 1980) is a Vietnamese-American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and television personality. He is known for his role as the fashion expert on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Say I Do ''Say I Do'' is an American reality television series developed by Scout Productions for Netflix. Each episode features a team of three professionals, Jeremiah Brent in the field of design, Thai Nguyen in the field of fashion, and Gabriele Bertac ...

''.

Early life

Nguyen was born in

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majorit ...

in the southern

Tiền Giang Province The term ''tiền'' ( Hán tự: 錢) is used to refer to various currency-related concepts used in Vietnamese history. The name is a cognate with the Chinese ''qián'' (錢), a unit of weight called " mace" in English. It can refer to a unit o ...

of Vietnam. He learned to sew at the age of 9 at his parents' private sewing school. The family immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1993 when Thai was 13 where they lived in

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Nguyen graduated from Olympia High School in 1999. He was an officer in the

Future Business Leaders of America The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...

. Nguyen then moved to California to study at the

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) is a private college in downtown Los Angeles. It offers degree programs in majors including fashion, entertainment, beauty, interior design, and graphic design. The college was founded in 19 ...

Career

Nguyen worked as an associate designer for

BCBG Max Azria Max Azria (January 1, 1949 – May 6, 2019) was a Tunisian-Jewish-born American fashion designer who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBG MAX AZRIA. Azria was also the designer, chairman and CEO of the BCBG Max Azria Group,Musta ...

before launching his own fashion business Thai Nguyen Atelier. During his career, Nguyen's designs have been seen on the red carpet for celebrities including

Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

and many others. He specializes in custom design. In addition to Netflix's 2020 series ''

'', Nguyen has worked on Bravo's ''

Launch My Line ''Launch My Line'' is an American reality competition series which premiered on December 2, 2009, on the Bravo cable channel. The show features professionals competing against one another in hopes of winning the chance to launch their own cloth ...

'' and ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''. He was also a judge representing

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

talent competition ''World's Best'' in 2019.

Personal life

Nguyen is openly gay and has a fiancé.

References

External links

Thai Nguyen Atelier
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Thai Living people Gay entertainers LGBT American people of Asian descent LGBT people from Vietnam LGBT people from Washington (state) LGBT fashion designers People from Mỹ Tho Vietnamese company founders Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese fashion designers Vietnamese television personalities 1980 births