Breakthrough, define identity
Closing the Vietnam International Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2025 (AVIFW SS 2025) recently in Ho Chi Minh City, 16 domestic and foreign designers and fashion brands ignited a brilliant fashion season with strong identity.
Among the famous international designers and brands such as Julien Fournié (France), Alberto Zambelli (Italy), Frederick Lee (Singapore), Moral (Indonesia), Behati (Malaysia)..., Vietnamese designers such as Vu Viet Ha, Dang Trong Minh Chau, Le Thanh Hoa, Adrian Anh Tuan, Thanh Huong Bui, Ivan Tran, Cao Minh Tien... brought collections that clearly reflected Vietnamese creative personality.
With the theme of Unique Identity Creating Style, the fashion “party” is woven from traditional quintessence along with modern elements. Vu Viet Ha is a person who is passionate about renewing old values and is meticulous in expressing his own identity in the flow of world fashion.
Returning to AVIFW SS 2025, he brought traditional specialties mixed with the highland lifestyle to create the Ma dao collection. The cultural pieces are distilled, containing many layers of meaning, starting from the brocade pieces crafted from the skirts of ethnic minorities, to the weaving, dyeing, and hand-sewing stages... as a way to preserve identity. He also breathed new life into traditional materials with the Op art effect - a form of abstract geometric art, exploring visual sensations.
Inspired by traditional folk materials, designer Cao Minh Tien wrote the story of the Lien Anh Lien Chi in the Quan Ho region through the Thoai Mong collection. He skillfully put the traditional spirit into each piece of the Ao Yem, Ao Tu Than, and Ao Dai, renewing it with modern materials such as lace, mesh, cotton...
Although participating in AVIFW for the first time, Thanh Huong Bui affirmed the limitless potential of the Vietnamese ao dai with the Rose of the Dawn collection. Each design is an elaborate handmade work, with sophisticated 3D embellishment techniques and bold visual composition. The ao dai - a traditional symbol - enters evening wear with a modern breath. Each design is like a cultural slice that both honors the original beauty of the ao dai and opens up new perspectives in the way it is expressed.
For the first time stepping out of the “safe zone” of Ao Dai, designer Dang Trong Minh Chau touches a new creative space - where evening gowns and cocktail dresses reign alongside Ao Dai designs with a contemporary visual spirit. The Illusion collection includes a series of designs applying modern techniques such as heat transfer printing, 3D shaping, cut-outs, hand-sewn embellishments, etc.
Shaping the fashion industry
According to fashion experts, over the past 10 years, Vietnamese fashion has strived to reach out to the world and the next 10 years will be the time for Vietnamese fashion to shape its own position on the international fashion industry map; from a processing destination to a country with a comprehensively developed fashion industry, with its own unique mark, rich in cultural identity, and capable of competing globally.
Not only AVIFW but also many other fashion weeks such as Vietnam Fashion Week, Vietnam Fashion Designer Week, Vietnam Children's Fashion Week, The New Generation of models... along with the designers' own fashion projects have been opening more "doors" for Vietnamese fashion.
To achieve this, domestic designers are steadfast in pursuing sustainable fashion, from using recycled materials such as lotus silk, oyster shells, and bamboo stems, to preserving cultural elements in each design, emphasizing individual identity. According to Ms. Trang Le - President of the Association of Southeast Asian Fashion Designers, President of Aquafina Vietnam International Fashion Week, the present time is a great opportunity for Vietnamese designers and fashion brands to tell the story of identity.
“I believe that Vietnamese fashion can absolutely reach the international level if we dare to think big and act methodically. A fashion week is not just about catwalk performances, red carpet stories, what the stars wear… but its profound value is to create a fashion ecosystem. There are many seminars, discussions, connections, exchanges, trade promotions… taking place during fashion weeks and after, to promote the development of the fashion industry. Of course, everything requires strategic, solid steps to increase connections,” Ms. Trang Le affirmed.
Having a basis for garment manufacturing, diverse sources of raw materials, and a team of talented designers, Vietnam still lacks a true fashion industry. The fashion industry is the story of fashion brands, textile corporations, etc. How to create a Vietnamese brand that can meet the needs and compete with brands around the world is still not an easy problem.
“Vietnam has enough facilities to make good, high-end products to export around the world, but currently it is only for hire and processing. Compared to the world, Vietnam is still a new, young market. What needs to be done is to promote creative industries,” said Ms. Trang Le.
Businessman Jonathan Hanh Nguyen - who has contributed a lot in bringing international fashion closer to the domestic market, said that he is planning to select excellent designers to introduce alongside international designers to bring Vietnamese fashion closer to global customers.
He emphasized: "If Vietnamese designers have the opportunity to reach a wider audience, I believe they can go far."
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thoi-trang-viet-lay-ban-sac-de-vuon-xa-post799535.html
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