Vietnam's fashion shopping tours attract foreign visitors

Fashion-focused shopping tours in Vietnam are attracting international visitors, with the hashtag #VietnamFashionTour becoming a keyword in a growing consumer tourism trend that promotes Vietnamese fashion as a destination in online content.

Vietnam's local fashion brands are not only serving domestic demand but are increasingly appealing to international visitors.

With the advantages of unique designs, reasonable prices, and a wide variety of styles, local fashion has become a compelling cultural highlight for many travelers exploring Vietnam.

Claire Lim, a 24-year-old tourist from Singapore, dedicated two full days of her trip to Ho Chi Minh City solely to shopping on famous fashion streets such as Nguyen Trai, Ly Tu Trong, and Tran Quang Dieu.

She discovered Vietnamese fashion brands through social media and shared that she spent nearly her entire travel budget on shopping.

"Vietnamese fashion products are not only trendy and stylistically diverse, but most shop owners strive to create sustainable clothing with versatile styling options and good quality. That's why I chose to shop here," Lim explained.

In addition to design, the pricing of clothing in Vietnam is highly appreciated by many tourists for its variety, catering to different customer segments.

Sharing her experience, Nhu Luong, 26, a Vietnamese-Norwegian tourist, expressed her love for Vietnamese fashion products due to their excellent value.

Compared to many other countries she has visited, she finds that for the same price, the quality of fashion items in Vietnam is much better.

"Many products here I can't find in Norway or anywhere else. This makes my style more unique, which is why I really enjoy shopping in Vietnam," Luong said.

Many international visitors have been impressed with the responsiveness of Vietnamese fashion to global trends.

This trend is clearly reflected in the growing number of searches, shares, and discussions about Vietnamese brands on international social media.

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, hashtags such as #VietnamLocalBrand, #VietnamFashionTour, and #VietnamShoppingHaul are attached to videos that have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

Young tourists from Asian countries like South Korea and Thailand, as well as from Europe, visit Vietnamese fashion stores located in old apartment buildings and stores in the center of Ho Chi Minh City not just for casual browsing, but to truly experience and purchase new designs.

These designs are considered trend-savvy and on par with major global brands.

Nguyen Thuy Linh Cat, the founder of the Catci brand, shared that her brand is gaining popularity among international customers visiting Vietnam thanks to minimalist designs, easy-to-style items, reasonable prices, and, notably, sustainability and long-term usability.

"Today's youth want uniqueness and to define their personal style, while mass-market brands cant meet this demand. This creates great potential for Vietnamese fashion brands, as they are rich in creativity, trend-sensitive, affordable, and of comparable quality to global labels," Cat explained.

   Turning trend into launchpad

Some Vietnamese fashion brands are ambitiously expanding their names into international markets.

Nguyen Trong Lam, the founder of the LSoul brand, stated that his brand is now expanding into Bangkok, Thailand, and Shanghai, China, which are highly competitive fashion markets, by launching monthly collections and slightly adjusting designs to align with local tastes.

"We don't start from scratch. We just localize enough for foreign consumers to feel familiar while still recognizing the distinctiveness of the Vietnamese brand," Lam noted.

He emphasized that with rapidly shifting consumer preferences, building a strong identity and focusing on a specific customer group are key to making a lasting impression.

Rather than outsourcing to China, many Vietnamese brands opt for domestic manufacturing to preserve their identity and unique Vietnamese touch during international expansion.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Pham Van Viet, vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garment, Textile, Embroidery and Knitting, said that the increasing number of tourists buying local fashion products is a significant advantage for Vietnam's market.

According to him, Vietnamese goods have many strengths, especially with the younger generation leveraging technology to gain more control over the supply chain and product deign.

"Domestic production quality is now excellent, thanks to a skilled, creative, and hard-working wokforce," Viet said.

"The cost of domestic products is currently only about 45 percent of equivalent items in developed markets.

"But they are not cheap goods. It's a reasonable price for a value that exceeds expectations."

The association also advises emerging brands during their early integration phase to employ small-batch production, quick launches, and focus on niche markets to minimize inventory risk.

According to experts, Vietnamese fashion is still at the starting line of global expansion.

Most brands are operating at a small scale and lack the resources to pursue the OBM (Original Brand Manufacturer) model.

The domestic supply of materials remains limited, and supporting industries are not yet fully developed, while international competition continues to intensify.

Viet emphasized that Vietnam holds many advantages in human resources.

Smart market strategies are helping young brands carve out their own paths.

Moreover, technologies like 3D design and artificial intelligence for pattern making, creative assistance, and personalization are helping local Vietnamese brands save time and costs while accelerating their time-to-market.

Viet stressed that technology is no longer an exclusive advantage for large corporations but a leveling tool that allows any brand with a strong identity to reach global consumers.

Thanh Ha - Truong Linh / Tuoi Tre News

(2025/05/12-17:41)