Local fashion houses and designers have achieved recognition in HCM City for the quality and creativity of their designs.

model poses for a photo in an outfit by Do Manh Cuong, a graduate of the Ecole Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

One up-and-coming name, N&M, rose to fame after opening its flagship store on the city’s Dong Khoi Street, a beautiful, historic street that attracts top fashion names, including Louis Vuitton and Versace.

The shop offers ready-to-wear designs for male and females of 20 to 40 years of age, and uses quality satin, linen, khaki and jersey.

N&M products offer a combination of traditional Vietnamese and modern American styles.

Although the designs are high quality and trendy, the prices are reasonable, ranging from VND300,000 (US$17) to more than VND800,000, which makes them popular with young professional women.

“We’re sure that we can take the lead in setting new trends in the local market,” said Nguyen Huu Phung, founder of Viet Fashion House, which owns the brand N&M.

Phung opened its first store late last year, and now has 20 shops under the name N&M scattered across the country.

Dozens of new brandnames from local fashion houses and young designers such as Ivy, Eva de Eva, Alcado, Nem and NinoMax have expanded their business in a market where customers often prefer foreign names.

Eva de Eva’s managing board said its profit tripled in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period last year.

In a recent interview with Ha Noi-based fashion magazine Dep (Beauty), young designer Do Manh Cuong said that his goal was to create styles with quality materials because the country’s fashion industry should respond to customer demand.

“My clothes are expensive but people are willing to pay because they appreciate the concepts in my garments,” said Cuong, who turned down opportunities in France to work in his homeland.

A graduate of the Ecole Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, Cuong loves creating elegant and eye-catching articles for his collections. His designs dazzle customers’ eyes at the first look.

Cuong played a role in developing Mattana, a brandname for the male-owned Nha Be Garment Company, one of the country’s leading State-owned garment companies involved in fashion design.

He now owns a large store on Suong Nguyet Anh Street in HCM City that provides customers with ready-to-wear and haute couture designs under the name DMC. Most items cost VND1 million and over.

His colleague, Ha Truong, also prospered this year by issuing quality collections made of Vietnamese materials through her brandname Mirror Mirror.

There is severe competition for foreign and Vietnamese designers, but “I have my own niche,” said Ha, adding that her profit is high enough now to fund her own business.

Her latest collection entitled As I am will be presented at Dep Fashion Show— this year’s biggest catwalk show organised by Dep magazine in HCM City next week.

Veteran designers like Minh Hanh and Minh Khoa say they dream of expanding abroad. Their success has encouraged young people, particularly women, to wear Vietnamese-made products.

VietNamNet/VNS