Vietnam Int’l Fashion Week to open in HCM City next month

A design from Cong Tri’s Spring 2021 collection. (Photo courtesy of the organiser)

HCM City - Seventeen designers and brands will present their latest designs at the 2020 Aquafina Vietnam International Fashion Week (AVIFW) in HCM City from December 3 to 6.

It will feature around 1,000 designs for adults and children made from silk, organza, lace, and velvet and will include hand-embroidered patterns.

Le Thi Quynh Trang, president of AVIFW and Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD), said at the event’s recent press conference in HCM City that while the world’s leading fashion weeks like Paris, Milan and New York have been postponed or organised virtually, AVIFW is able to be held due to proper control of COVID-19 in Vietnam.

“With the theme The Future is Now, VAIFW is a golden opportunity to prove and elevate the status of Vietnam fashion in the global fashion industry, he said.

“The Vietnam fashion industry has achieved success for years. AVIFW has become the leading fashion event in Southeast Asia and fourth biggest in Asia after Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai fashion weeks.

Trang also announced at the conference that CAFD has launched a mobile app called AFAB for iOS and Android to introduce designs by Vietnamese and Southeast Asian designers to the world.

The fashion week will see the comeback of Vietnam’s leading fashion designer, Nguyen Cong Tri, after two years abroad.

He will open the event with his latest collection in collaboration with Aquafina featuring dozens of designs in luxury materials and printed patterns especially suited for young people.

Tri said, “I came back to AVIFW to tell stories of my journey from New York to Vietnam. I want to learn about the country’s market and lifestyle, and challenge myself with a new collection aimed at Vietnamese youth."

“The collaborative collection with Aquafina for youths is a challenge.”

Trí rose to fame even when in school after his collection won second prize at the 2001 Asian Young Fashion Designers Contest organised by the Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore and the Singapore Trade Development Board.

In 2014 he became a member of the Asian Couture Federation. He has attended leading fashion events abroad such as the Tokyo Fashion Week in 2016 and 2017 and New York Fashion Week Fall Winter 2019 and Spring Summer 2020.

His clothes have been worn by western stars like Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna, and Jacqueline Fernandez.

Tri’s Spring 2021 Ready-to-Wear collection has been published on Vogue.com.

The 11th season of AVIFW will see the participation of other famous designers like Adrian Tuan Anh, Do Long and Hoang Minh Ha as well as newly graduated ones like Vo Hoang Long of the HCM City University of Architecture and Nguyen Tung Chinh of Hong Bang University.

Two ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dresses) designers, Minh Chau and Bao Bao, will bring their collections.

Thao Nguyen and Ivan Tran will introduce their new designs for children.

The event will be held at the Nguyen Du Gymnasium at 112 Nguyen Du street, District 1.