By Thu Anh

HCM CITY —  Vietnamese brand names and clothing shops in HCM City are offering new collections for the style-conscious young consumer this summer. 

Designers for Kim, a brand name owned by designer Phúc Trần, combine simplicity and practicality at their shops in District 3.

They offer a new collection titled My Summer for boys and girls aged 10 to 14, using pastel, neon, black and white on cotton, linen and denim.

With more than 40 designs this season, Kim’s items sell from VNĐ200,000 (US$9) to 500,000 ($22).

Limited edition items for children under 12 years old are from Kelly Bùi Kids, owned by female designer Bùi  Minh Trang.

Sold in shops in Hà Nội and HCM City, they provide a taste of animated Hollywood film characters.

Featured clothes are on quality materials like lace, silk and taffeta, printed with Ninja turtles.   

The designs go with accessories such as belts, sunglasses, gloves and fishnet socks. 

“Clothes from Kelly Bùi are high-end and pricey, over VNĐ1 million ($45) each, but customers with deep pockets are satisfied,” said regular customer Trần Ánh Tuyết, mother of son and two daughters.  

“I like clothes by Vietnamese fashion designers like Kelly Bùi and Phúc Trần because they give my children a trendy outlook suited to their age,” she added. 

Other fashion shops have also upgraded their goods. Phương Nguyen Silk and Rabity offer ready-to-wear collections for boys and girls.  

While Phuong Nguyen Silk’s popular clothing line starts at VNĐ200,000 ($9), Rabity’s customers should be prepared to pay VNĐ300-1.2 million ($25-$100) per item.

In their collection called Summer Garden, Rabity uses silk and satin to highlight the innocence of children who look beautiful in white and cream.  

Phuong Nguyen Silk uses cotton and khaki and embroidery in hot colours, such as pearl blue and lemon green, to launch a trend of simple, high-end styles.

A full range of accessories of handbags, scarves, swimwear and jewellery made by local craftspeople are also offered.

According to a representative of Kelly Bùi, to satisfy the needs of the market in summer, domestic brandnames are also spending more to grab the attention of children and their parents.

They have also worked to ensure their services and promotions are the best for customers.

“We plan to launch an online service in the near future,” she said.

Xuân Lan, a member of the second Vietnam Junior Fashion Week 2017 (VJFW)’s organising board, said: “Vietnamese fashion houses, companies and designers have worked to develop their business in children’s clothing in recent years.”

“Our two-day VJFW 2017 in March featured 90 amateur fashion models aged from four to 13, who wore more than 100 designs offered by foreign and domestic brandnames in HCM City,” she said.

Several thousand parents and children shared their comments on the event’s websites and online forums.

“We have worked with dozens of foreign and domestic fashion companies to organise the VJFW each year,” Land said.

Lan owns CA3, an institute of modelling and acting, which offers training courses for fashion modelling, catwalk and photography.

“We will seek new talents for the catwalk through the VJFW. We will help them become more professional in their work in the future,” she said. — VNS