For Steffany Tran, the Vietnamese-American founder of New York-based studio Vy Voi, objects become storytellers. Their materials, form and construction reflect longstanding cultural traditions, which she interprets through her own voice. ‘I describe my practice as almost like using a metal detector and finding nuggets in history,' she says.
A floor lamp from the ‘Re Cây’ lighting collection
Tran, whose parents are both refugees, grew up between San José, California, and Saigon, where she spent summers visiting her family. Thanks to her cross-cultural upbringing, ‘I could weave in and out of both of those identities very cleanly,' she says. ‘That openness and tenderness to what those identities are really shaped how I am as a person and my practice as well. I'm not coming from an outsider's gaze.'
Sketches and prototypes in Tran's studio
After studying industrial design in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tran moved to New York, where she worked in traditional firms including Lippincott and Smart Design. The fast pace and problem-solving briefs were not exactly aligned with her personal interest in the art of making, so she took up ceramics at a local community centre as a creative outlet. There, she focused on perfecting the loose gestural glazing found in Vietnamese pottery. Eventually, she decided to dedicate all her time to creating handmade objects inspired by Vietnamese craft, which she felt were missing from the contemporary design world. ‘It was almost an exercise in this idea of if you can't find it, build it yourself,' Tran says.
Tran's Vietnam trips began to include visits to libraries and meetings with art historians and anthropologists to build her vocabulary around Vietnamese design and craft. She was particularly interested in how contemporary studios continued age-old traditions and reflected different sensibilities compared to East Asian aesthetics. This line of inquiry led her to dó, a textured paper made from tree bark that has been produced in Vietnam for over 800 years. She met one of the few families in the country who continue to make the material, and used it to design lamps, creating oblong shapes inspired by traditional kites, as well as welcoming, rounded silhouettes. Her newest collection derives its form from folded banana leaves, a core ingredient in Vietnamese cooking.
Tran is currently developing a new body of work based on her latest obsession: 17th-century Vietnamese lacquer, which was commonly applied to musical instruments and furniture with decorative inlays. ‘Design has the ability to make the seemingly unknown – and sometimes as a result, overlooked – feel more familiar and distinct,' Tran says. ‘If we can understand and covet Korean moon jars, Japanese joinery or Italian glass, I think we can make space for Vietnamese lacquer art and Lao weaving, too.'
The ultimate Vy Voi project is about expanding cultural vocabulary, democratising important narratives, and affirming human experience through captivating objects. So far the results have been heartwarming. ‘One of the most fulfilling things about doing this is when people message me to say, “I loved hearing the story”,' says Tran.
This article appears in the August 2026 Issue of Wallpaper*, available now in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
This article appears in the August 2026, Creative America issue of Wallpaper*, available from 2 July in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today