Young designers win success on global stage

09/05/2008 -- 4:53 PM

HCM City (VNA) - Several young Vietnamese designers have ambitions to market their designs in other countries following success on the international market. Designer Thuan Viet has just returned to Ho Chi Minh City from Japan where his collections were showcased at the Vietnamese Culture Week in Osaka from May 2-6. “I received invitations to work with several Japanese businesses who want to import my Vietnamese ao dai (traditional long dress),” Viet said. His collections are made of silk and velvet and are decorated with embroidery and crystal beads. “Negotiations on prices and other issues are continuing,” Viet said. “But I’m optimistic that foreign companies will start to pay attention to Vietnamese fashion. Young designer Vo Viet Chung is also busy now, making 80 ao dai which will be worn by 80 candidates in the upcoming Miss Universe 2008 contest. The contest, organised for the first time in Vietnam , will take place in Nha Trang in July. “The most outstanding feature of this collection is the combination of modern western style and Vietnamese traditional beauty,” Chung said. “This will enhance the elegance and charm of those who wear them.” The beauty contest will be broadcast over national television networks around the world and will introduce Vietnam and its designers to the world fashion industry, according to HCM City ’s Fashion and Design Institute (Fadin). Young designers like Anh Vu, Cong Khanh and Vu Thu Giang have also recently displayed their designs at many international fashion festivals organised in Asia . Foreign firms are beginning to pay attention, but the domestic fashion industry lacks a business strategy, which needs at least five more years to integrate into the world market, according to Fadin officials. “We have knowledge about the art of design but we lack marketing skills and selling techniques that will enhance domestic and overseas sales,” designer Le Len said. Designer Le Minh Khoa said he had received several invitations to work with foreign investors after his creations were shown abroad. “I must have a big factory to be able to fulfill orders from foreign firms,” he said. “I cannot manage all the jobs it would create if my designs were made at different factories in HCM City .” Chung has used traditional Vietnamese My A satin for many of his collections, which have been shown at fashion events in Vietnam as well as Malaysia , China , Australia and New Zealand . “I also have refused many orders to make My A satin dresses from other countries,” Chung said. “I don’t have enough My A satin for the production.” The traditional satin is now made by only a few families in Tan Chau craft village in An Giang province in the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta. Other young designers said they had knowledge of design, but they didn’t know how to promote their products abroad and needed help from the State-Enditem
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