The BRICS+ Fashion Summit business program features more than 200 speakers from all over the world. They are fashion industry professionals who set the trends for its development in their relevant regions. We asked some of them to size up the Summit’s impact on BRICS+ emerging markets, to talk about fashion development trends in their countries and the contribution made by the textile and garment industry to their national economies.
The BRICS+ Fashion Summit establishes dialogues between emerging markets, allowing them to exchange knowledge and innovations. Through collaboration, emerging economies can build stronger supply chains and create more sustainable practices, thereby boosting their collective inf luence on global fashion while allowing them to compete with its longstanding powerhouses.
Vietnam’s fashion industry contributes around 15% of the country’s GDP and the sector’s total exports were estimated at approximately $40 billion in 2022. Most of its products are sold in the USA, EU and Japan. Fashion is a critical branch of our economy, providing more than 2.5 million jobs. The country’s main garment and footwear factories are located predominantly in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam has both handicraft and couture fashion. Eleven years ago, I personally founded a company that operated in the ultra-premium segment and targeted only 0.01% of Vietnam’s population. Most Vietnamese designers target the local market but some have achieved global success. One of them is Cong Tri: many celebrities wear her clothes. Or take Thuy Nguyen, who showed her collections at Tokyo Fashion Week, thereby helping promote the Vietnamese fashion industry on the nearby Asian market. With the rapid growth of Vietnam’s fashion segment, I expect the number of market players to explode very soon. Our promising young brands include Fanci Club, La Lune and CEM.
