The aim of both My and Tri was to open shops that sell high-end made-in-Vietnam fashion products in the US.
“What I am concerned about is whether we can approach a new market after the event. I attended fashion week not just to polish the brand name, which can help boost sales in Vietnam,” My said.
He has been working with leading music stars to popularize his design brand. In 2017, Rhihana chose a design of Tri in his Em Hoa Collection introduced at Tokyo Fashion Week for a shoot to advertise a shoe brand. Meanwhile, Katy Perry ordered Tri three outfits for her world tour Witness.
Phuong My, a graduate of the Academy of Art University in California, has appeared in prestigious catwalks and fashion journals. She has stated that her designs target the one percent of ultra-wealthy people.
My’s products are available in 30 shops in 20 countries, mostly in the Middle East and Asia. Lydia Hearst appeared on Genlux’s cover with My’s design in 2014. Elizabeth DiPrinzio chose My as her designer and Coco Rocha chose My’s products for her working days in Vietnam in March 2017.
Another Vietnamese designer, Tom Trandt, has gained big success despite his young age.
Graduating from Parsons The New School for Design and spending five years in New York, he is one of very few young designers who want to ‘tell their own stories’.
In 2016, Moi-Dien, a clothing brand created by Tom Trandt, debuted and immediately caught attention. Each product sells at VND600,000-2 million.
Trandt is the only Vietnamese representative out of 16 designers chosen for the International Fashion Showcase 2019 (IFS) in London.
Hai Minh, who lived and worked in France, has returned to Vietnam to build the Leinne brand, specializing in bags and hat accessories, with a family-run workshop which has been operating for 20 years. Minh is making hectic preparations to participate in Paris Fashion Week later this year.
Meanwhile, foreign designers can see bright future for Vietnam’s fashion. Luis Antonio Torres, one of the top luxury designers in Vietnam, said in an interview to the local press that the country could become Southeast Asia’s biggest fashion hub.