Big-name fashions flock to Vietnam

Louis Vuitton is urgently completing the last works to inaugurate its luxurious store at the centre of HCM City. At the same time, CK, a famous fashion brand of the US, will open a shop in HCM City in mid May.

However, it is predicted that the path to success of those firms in Vietnam will not be easy.

CK comes to Vietnam when Spain’s Mango has stirred a ‘light fever’ among young people. A famous fashion designer in HCM City said that though she gave priority to locally-made products she is a ‘fan’ of Mango.

‘Burning’ money for products of famous names

Besides Mango, CK will have to compete with many other big names of fashion at HCM City’s centres for fashion, the Parkson and Diamond Plaza.

The two above shopping malls have Ungaro, Timberland, Guess, Valentino Rydy, Guy Laroche, Alain Delon, and Levi’s. Fashion connoisseurs favour Parkson over Diamond because of trust of in the origin of its products.

People who come to Parkson to really go shopping are foreigners, businessmen, and high-income State employees and children of rich families.

Products with famous brand names are not scarce in Vietnam but fashion connoisseurs still want to go shopping at official shops. Without official distributors, fashion products of famous brand-names are imported into Vietnam in a scattered form or by individuals, which are often out of fashion.

How to gain success?

CK has selected its distributor in Vietnam, the C&T International Joint Stock Company. Before joining hands with CK, C&T was the distributor of Laneige cosmetics of the Republic of Korea, Lolita Lempicka perfume of France, Tony Wear clothes of the US, and O.P.I nail products of the US.

A fashion expert said that like other firms, it would be difficult for C&T to attract a high and stable number of customers because top-tier fashion business in Vietnam is still considered ’risky’.

"Fashion is a sensitive product that is related to consumers’ psycho-physiology. Nobody can measure the trend of fashion in Vietnam now. The taste of consumers for seasonal fashion is not clear as well," the expert analysed.

To reduce prices in Vietnam, foreign fashion firms often cooperate in different forms with Vietnamese partners, for example, Pierre Cardin with An Phuoc, Valentino Rudy with Danti Co., Ltd.

According to Dang Ngoc Tinh, Director of Danti, his company worked as an agent for Valentino Rudy since 2001 and was franchised to use this trademark in 2005.

Paying franchising fees o­n an annual basis, Danti can place orders with the mother firms for designs and materials suitable to Vietnamese customers.

“With the franchising contract, I can establish a company to produce fashion products named Valentino Rudy but I don’t think of it at this moment because it is not simple to produce o­n the spot,” Mr Tinh said.

Danti currently has four shops in Hanoi and HCM City selling trousers, shirts and vests, mainly serving businessmen.

Foreign tourists who stay at luxurious hotels are the targets of famous fashion firms when they come to Vietnam. The Sheraton Hotel in HCM City is o­ne of the five-star hotels that have many shops with famous fashion names such as Milano, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Moschino, Roberto Cavalli, and René Caovilla.

Dang Tu Anh, marketing manager of Milano shop, said that she hired shops in the Sheraton to sell imported fashion products like bags, footwear and clothes to mainly serve foreign travelers.

To protect its brands and images in Vietnam, CK has invited the US’ Baker & McKenzie to protect its interests in Vietnam.

Before CK comes to Vietnam, shops that sell CK imitated products have been warned to immediately stop their operations. However, an expert o­n intellectual property said that it would still be a fierce battle for famous fashion firms to fight against imitation products in Vietnam.