Vietnam fashion world starts to catch fire

By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam

HO CHI MINH CITY - While more and more foreign designers are keen on coming to setting up shop in Vietnam, local ones are turning their eyes away from the local trade, saying the fashion market is still in its infancy.

These are the Vietnam fashion industry's latest birthing pains, highlighting yet one more aspect of change that economic liberalization is bringing to this country. With the industry just a decade old, young designers are winning prizes at regional and international fashion competitions.

But their designs have yet to find a strong market at home, where consumers, especially the young, are drawn to Western brands, styles and images. Only variations of the traditional ao dai, the classic dress comprises of a long tunic split up to the waste and worn over wide trousers, draw local customers.

"With US$300, I could have more sophisticated things from Gucci, Coco Banana," said Le Nguyen Nhu Ngoc, discarding the local designs that a store clerk showed her at a fashion shop on Nguyen Trai, one of the streets here known for their boutiques of luxury goods. Never mind that the Gucci and Coco Banana items are in fact copies smuggled from Hong Kong, Shanghai or Bangkok, which is why they can be sold at prices that young women like Ngoc can afford.

They can only dream of getting stylish, haute-couture products by international fashion designers such as Japan's Takayuki Sawamura, the United States' Kimberly White or France's Valerie Gregori McKenzie - that are designed and made in Vietnam. These young designers are here because they find it a creative and satisfying place to work, with local artisans able to bring their designs to life.

Takayuki Sawamura, for instance, first came to Ho Chi Minh City eight years ago. He was not planning to make Vietnam his home, but soon found that it was the ideal place to bring his designs to life.

"Many of my creations incorporate intricate embroidered motifs which can only be sewn by hand," he said. "It's much more expensive to commission this kind of work in countries like Japan."

Takayuki has already launched two haute-couture labels, Opla and Thaca, from his fashion boutique on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, in one of Saigon's chic quarters. His designs tend to be more popular with expatriates working in Vietnam and local well-off shoppers, because they are made from luxurious fabrics. Takayuki is now hoping to expand his costumer base, providing to young Vietnamese "a range of high-quality, value-for-money designs at a price they can afford".

For Kimberly White, who hails from the United States, it is more than just the promise of cheap and highly skilled labor that drew her to set up her company, Jadora, in this city. She says that living and working here provides her with a rich new source of inspiration.

"I'm continually fascinated by the unique creations of Vietnamese crafts workers," she explained. "I enjoy finding ways to give a contemporary twist in my work."

Like White, Valerie Gregori McKenzie is bringing old and new, East and West together to produce stunning creations. She opened her Hanoi fashion boutique nine years ago and has recently established branches in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to top local designer Minh Hanh, with solid financial resources and experience of doing business in the global market, foreign designers can end up having the edge over their Vietnamese competitors. However, she says, this should not be viewed as a negative development.

"The more international couturiers come to Vietnam, the more local designers will be inspired by new influences, and push themselves to compete," said Minh Hanh, head of city's Fashion Design Institute (Fadin).

One of Minh Hanh's students, Pham Huyen Trang, has already from benefited from that healthy competition. Trang's Co Tam shop here has more than a hundred items in stock, with prices ranging from $10-$500.

"There is strong competition among young designers like me who want to win the hearts of fashion lovers overseas. But we have established our own niche," Trang said.

Minh Hanh and her students have been working hard at putting the local fashion industry on the international map, aiming for it to someday be ranked alongside Paris, Tokyo, New York and Vienna. If that sounds grandiose, Minh Hanh has already shown her collections at fashion festivals and fairs in France, Japan and Belgium and has sold many of her pieces to local customers.

Last year, she began exporting her designs to Los Angeles, marketed under the MH brand. Working closely with the Reper Troirs Showroom there, she frequently sends new collections for the dealer to market.

Young Ho Chi Minh City-based designer Le Minh Khoa has also begun exporting his collections. He settled his first deal earlier this year, selling his latest 80-garment wedding collection to a US businessman.

"I think I understand what foreign customers want to see in new styles, particularly styles created by Asian designers like me," said Khoa, who owns two fashion boutiques in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. "The most important thing for me now is to find an overseas agent who can help me develop my business," Khoa explained.

(Inter Press Service)