Made in Vietnam: Why its homegrown fashion is having a moment
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Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, and Jennie from Blackpink have completely different musical styles. But when it comes to what they wear on stage and on the street, they do share something in common.

a fondness for Vietnamese fashion. In recent months, they've joined the likes of Katy Perry and Adele in wearing Vietnamese brands. In this episode, we're going to hear a bit more about Vietnam's fashion industry and whether its under-the-radar brands are poised to go global. I'm William Lee Adams, and this is What in the World from the BBC World Service.

Here to tell us more about Vietnamese fashion is Thuong Le. She is a BBC reporter from BBC Vietnamese based in Bangkok. Thuong, hi. Hi, William. Thank you for calling me. Thank you so much for joining us.

So Tung, what got you interested in this story on Vietnamese fashion? So as you may know that I'm originally from Vietnam, but now I'm based in Bangkok. But when I was in Vietnam as a shopaholic, I used to wander from the lively street of Hanoi to the chic boutique of Ho Chi Minh City. And that habit didn't stop when I moved to Bangkok. When I was walking through Platinum Shopping Mall in the center of Bangkok,

I came across a store that caught my eye. And I noticed them because they were selling items from Vietnamese local brand, the same ones that I already had in my wardrobes. And it wasn't just in the store. You know, like whenever I visited a hair salon or a massage shop in Bangkok,

The young female staff would just often tell me how popular Vietnamese clothing is in Thailand. And I discovered that the hashtag Vietnamese clothes was so trending on Thai social media with millions of views on TikToks and Instagram. It must have been a good feeling to see the world basically saying, you're fashion. Vietnamese people are fashionable.

Thank you. Yeah, yeah. It's a compliment that I often receive when I'm in Thailand, actually. Are you wearing Vietnamese brands right now?

No, today I'm not wearing because, you know, there was an earthquake in Bangkok in March. So my room was, there was some crack on the wall. They sent some people to fix the room. So I have to move out to the hotel and I only carry just a few piece of clothes. So I've been wearing like the same clothes over and over for the last few days. We hope you are reunited with your Vietnamese clothes soon. Yeah.

I will wear my huge wardrobe soon. Now, let's take a step back. How big is the Vietnamese fashion industry? I think if you look around, you'll notice that many of your clothes and shoes have tags that say, Made in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation holds 12 to 30%

share of the global textile and garment market. In 2024, Vietnam's garment and textile export reaches nearly 44 billion US dollars, positioning the country as the world's second largest exporter, just behind China.

And Vietnam aims to maintain strong foothold in traditional markets such as the U.S., Japan, Europe, and South Korea, while they're also expanding into emerging markets like Russia, the Middle East, and South Asia.

And, you know, like one more thing is like the apparel and foodware sector play a big role in Vietnam economy. Accounting for approximately 15% of the country's GDP, Vietnam has around 7,000 textile and garment enterprises employing, I think,

So making clothes for other companies is one thing, but increasingly Vietnam and Vietnamese fashion clothing, that's being exported abroad. I'm thinking of brands like Elsol. Who's wearing these designs?

Vietnamese local brands are gaining favor with international celebrities. Some well-known Vietnamese fashion brands include Fancy Club, Bube, Lalune, and also, like you mentioned, Anonmate and Lodan. In recent years, K-pop idols such as Blackpink, aespa, TWICE, G-idle, or international stars like Adele, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish,

are often seen wearing clothes created by Vietnamese designers. And meanwhile, many popular influencers from Singapore, Malaysia, China, etc. are flying to the country to shop local branding clothing, and one of them is Joins from Singapore.

Actually, I saw many reviews about Ho Chi Minh online. So because of that, I decided to book a flight to Vietnam to find out more about the Vietnamese fashion. I think Vietnamese clothings, they are very detailed pieces and they are very affordable yet high quality. And I feel that there is a very strong sense of identity in their design.

And the local brands are very intentional with their fabric choices and tailoring. So everything fits really well on Southeast Asian body. And I feel that compared to fast fashion, these pieces are much more thoughtful and authentic and very curated. And many commented

like that the pieces are very pretty and very wearable on an everyday basis. That was Joyce Ng, a fashion influencer in Singapore. Now, Tung, could you tell us about some of the popular items that have gone viral and sold out online? Sure. Last year when Jenny from Blackpink shared a video where she was seen promoting an eyewear collection on her Instagram, her skirt was from the Vietnamese brand El Sol.

It was retailing for 980,000 Viet Nam Dong, which is about nearly 40 US dollars. I spoke to the brand. They told me that there was a sale in orders for the skirt that Jenny wore with about 2,000 units in stock selling out in roughly 15 minutes. A lot of folks would say, "40 dollars for a skirt that Jenny wore? That's a steal. That's a bargain."

Is part of the popularity of Vietnamese fashion due to the price? Are they more affordable? Yeah, I would say the Vietnamese clothing are quite affordable and high quality when you compare to fast fashion and the stuff at the market.

The price ranges from $30 to $40 on the low end and up to $150 for the high-end pieces. I also reached out to Quynh Vinh. She's a business consultant in the fashion industry in Vietnam and she works as a sales director for the El Som brand. Besides Thailand, the clearest group of customers coming to Vietnam is probably China, the neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Turkey now consumes a lot of local Vietnamese brands and other Asian brands, especially smaller countries like ours. You know that Turkey is one of the global hubs for fashion outsourcing. Yet our products are still very popular there. Foreign customers make up around 30 to 35 percent of our sales, depending on the month.

After foreign customers started buying, our profits increased by about 100 to 150 percent, essentially doubling. You mentioned earlier how Vietnamese fashion is cropping up in Thailand. Do you think this could grow into a larger movement in even more countries? Some brands also are expanding their business. They are opening stores in countries like Thailand and China.

And not only in Thailand, I see that many people who are going to Vietnam to buy wholesale and then to resell in their own country, such as Australia. When I visited Sydney last year, I was so surprised when I saw a store selling all Vietnamese clothes. And not only just online, like online,

Because most of the stores have websites and Instagram and TikTok accounts, a lot of people are sharing the Vietnamese clothes on social media as well. So I think the business is growing bigger and bigger.

For this topic, I reached out to Professor Kim Myung Hee from Chungkang College of Cultural Industry in South Korea. She is the former stylist of many Korean stars such as the SNSE girl group Mirane and Yoon Ji Hoon. She told me that Vietnamese fashion is rapidly growing. Trends such as Y2K, street style, retro and genderless fashion are being reimagined in a Vietnamese context.

and combined with TikTok-based distribution, helping to spread their content widely. Local materials and small-scale craftsmanship are appealing to increasingly conscious consumers. As a key manufacturing hub for global brands like Nike, Adidas and Uniqlo, Vietnam has the production competitiveness, social media influence and the power of the Korean wave. Vietnamese fashion is not just a short-term trend, but has great potential.

That was Professor Kim Myung-hee. She referenced the Korean wave there. That's the global spike in interest in South Korean culture in recent decades. Perhaps Vietnamese fashion brands are helping build the momentum for a Vietnamese wave in the near future. Tung Le, BBC reporter in Bangkok, thank you so much for explaining that. Thank you. Goodbye.

That's all for today. If you're interested in clothing and style, we've got several other episodes you might want to check out. They include what is going on with fast fashion and are your fashion choices a recession indicator? You can find those wherever you're listening to us right now. I'm William Lee Adams, and this is What in the World from the BBC World Service. We'll see you again soon.

I'm Zing Singh. And I'm Simon Jack. And together we host Good Bad Billionaire. The podcast exploring the lives of some of the world's richest people. In the new season, we're setting our sights on some big names. Yep, LeBron James and Martha Stewart, to name just a few. And as always, Simon and I are trying to decide whether we think they're good, bad or just another billionaire. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.