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International designers are playing a big part in making Ho Chi Minh City Southeast Asia’s next big thing

一眾國際設計師雲集胡志明市，促使當地冒起成為東南亞潮流熱點

Design central越趨時尚

by Samantha Coomberphotos by Peter StuCkingS

I n just a few years, shopping in Ho Chi Minh City has gone from predominately mass-produced, cheap and cheerful goods to cutting-edge quality designs. This is largely thanks to pioneering

international designers who not only create, design and retail in Vietnam’s shopping and design capital, but also make it their home. They come inspired by exceptional Vietnamese tradesmanship and centuries-old craft industries such as lacquer, silk and embroidery.

With an abundance of locally sourced materials, creative freedom and a booming economy, these designers have created a successful fusion of tradi-tional indigenous craftwork and styles with high-quality standards, contemporary international designs and environment-friendly practices. As a result, uniquely Vietnamese products exuding originality and flair are the hallmarks of the city’s new breed of stylish individual stores aimed at visitors and locals alike.

Dragon Smile’s bamboo vases are a testament to local craftmanship

Dragon Smile的竹製花瓶是當地巧手工藝的體現

DiSCover Vietnam 發現�越南

ipa-nima is a handbag nirvana set amid the bustle of

ho Chi minh City’s traffic 位於胡志明市繁囂大街上的

ipa-nima是手袋集中地

S E p t E m b E r 2 0 0 8 d i scov e ry 49

homeWare

Dragon SmiLeLacquer is one of Vietnam’s oldest and celebrated crafts, but it is companies such as European family-led Dragon Smile which have cleverly transported it into the 21st century. Operating out of Ho Chi Minh City for more than a decade, Dragon Smile’s team of international and Vietnamese designers work closely with local artisans – respecting their lacquer expertise – to produce quality products all polished to a flawless, sleek finish.

Dragon Smile pays homage to traditionally-

influenced lacquer styles, such as gold and silver leaf inserted into translucent layers. However, it is the striking contemporary designs which stand out. Many of the lacquer furniture pieces and homewares – including bowls, trays and tealight holders – are funky and innovative with abstract shapes in unconventional matte tones, incorpo-rating bold colours such as tomato red. Slivers of bamboo, a beloved Vietnamese icon, create a pop-art effect on giant floor vases.

Its downtown flagship store will be a hit with visitors seeking a refined Vietnamese souvenir. 74/5 hai ba trung, District one, +84 8 823 1788www.dragon-smile.com

gaya This is a creative partnership between several international designers who are residents of Ho Chi Minh City and other parts of South-east Asia. Spotting a gap in the market, they created Vietnam’s first international designer show-room. With its multi-level, open-plan interiors and high-quality designs, Gaya was a pioneering retail concept in the city when it opened in 2003.

Gaya serves as a retail outlet and showroom for the export creations of designers and offers unique fashions, accessories, furniture, homewares and gifts for the design-conscious shopper, created with international standards of design, manufac-turing practices and finishes. Most of Gaya’s prod-ucts are hand-crafted in Vietnam. Gaya opens a second shop on Corner Le Lai Street this month. 39 ton that thiep, District one, +84 8 914 3769; 1 nguyen van trang Street, Corner Le Lai Street, District one, +84 8 914 3769 www.gayavietnam.com

gaya’s showroom was a pioneering concept when it opened (above)

gaya陳列室的前衛概念於開幕時是前所未見的（上圖）

michele de albert tea set at gaya (right)

gaya售賣的michele de albert茶具（右圖）

old meets new at Dragon Smile

Dragon Smile 擅於中西合璧

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embroidered army jackets at mai’s

mai's售賣加上了刺繡的軍人外套

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mantraThree innovative international designers residing in Ho Chi Minh City and bonded by common ideals created Mantra. The combination of the stark minimalist showroom, hands-on designer approach and “wow factor” designs offer shoppers an exciting retail concept.

British-Indian Anupa Horvil, Indian Vivek Chaudhary and Australian Kevin Lane bring their own individual flair and diverse backgrounds, yet comple-ment each other in Mantra’s creative output. Refusing to follow trends, they design quality products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable, incorpo-rating elements of Vaastu Sastra, the ancient Indian science of architecture, to create a harmonious living environment with practical considerations.

FaShion

mai’S One of the original Vietnamese “boat people”, Mai Lam returned two decades later from Australia in 1996 to her native city, where she has become one of Vietnam’s hottest and most innovative designers. Mai’s exquisite fashions, jewellery and accessories plus an evolving range of lifestyle items are show-cased in her stylish, eponymous flagship store.

Located inside the Hotel Continental, Mai’s mixes a Harley-Davidson motorbike, framed antique Man-darin robes and lacquer artworks. Mai’s trademark classic yet funky urban designs are handmade locally using traditional production methods and feature rich, natural fabrics and a distinctive “distressed” look as well as intricate, multi-dimensional embroidery.

The store’s décor and designs are tinged with personal historical references, Vietnamese culture and a mix of old and contemporary.g/F, hotel Continental, 132-134 Dong khoi Street, District one, +84 8 827 2733 www.mailam.com.vn

All designs are hand-crafted in Viet-nam. Inspired by the country’s outstand-ing traditional craftsmanship, Mantra’s designers aim to prove that Vietnamese designs can rival the best elsewhere.

A fusion of traditional and contempo-rary styles and techniques, plus intrigu-ing combinations of materials results in “contemporary antiques” that attract an eclectic mix of shoppers seeking something different. Ever-changing designs feature chic leather bags and

accessories from Horvil and furniture, lighting and interior décor by Chaudhary and Lane – from towering lacquered floor lamps to marble table lights and frames. 84 Pho Duc Chinh, District one, +84 8 915 1473 www.mantravietnam.com

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Leather passport holder, vietnam style

越式皮革護照套

harmonious homeware at mantra

mantra出售的 家品和諧優雅

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SongMeaning “to live” in Vietnamese, SONG is a lifestyle and fashion concept inspired by nature, blending traditional embroidery with a modern eco-friendly ethos. Founded by French designer and Ho Chi Minh City resident Valerie Gregori McKenzie, SONG captures the essence of tropical life with high-end vacation and resort-inspired clothing, bags and accessories in addition to home furnishings.

SONG’s fabrics are natural, ethically sourced and have a low environmental impact – mainly cotton, linen, hemp and silk. The designers divide their time between Paris and Ho Chi Minh City and production takes place in workshops and a pioneering “green” factory in Vietnam.

McKenzie is a strong advocate of preserving Vietnamese embroidery and most SONG items are hand-stitched by skilled artisans. The flag-ship Ho Chi Minh City store sells signature crisp linen kaftans, soft cotton yoga attire, silk bed quilts and brocade boudoir cushions, attracting the well-heeled sensitive to SONG’s handmade workmanship, green practices and style. SONG’s creations are sold at dedicated

domestic stores and are available overseas in more than 30 countries.

76D Le thanh ton, District one, +84 8 824 6986

www.Song-life.com

iPa-nimaHandbag nirvana Ipa-Nima retails a range of multi-sized flamboyant, funky, coquettish and vintage handbags in bold, vibrant colours – all exuding atti-tude. The uber-glamorous, highly original Ipa-Nima is the creation of Hong Kong designer Christina Yu, who established her high-end accessories label and flagship store in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.

Utilising the superb craftsmanship of Vietnam-ese artisans, the wonderfully extravagant bags are crafted to international standards in local workshops around Hanoi and feature complex blends of textures and fabrics plus heavy embellishment techniques by hand, such as embroidery and beading.

Styles range from punk-meets-chic and exotically decadent to classic leather designs with fashion-able twists. The line offers two major seasonal collections which, along with designs exclusive to Vietnam, make attractive collector’s items at affordable prices – a point not lost on tourists,

bags of style at ipa-nima ipa-nima的手袋 時尚出眾

Song strives to be eco-friendly

Song致力出售不會損害環境的產品

Song’s products are mostly hand embroidered

Song的產品多半以 人工刺繡製成

Cathay Pacific airways flies three times a day to ho Chi minh City

國泰航空每日均有三班

航機飛往胡志明市

不久以前，在胡志明市購物是為了價

廉物美，但是今天一切都已經開

始改變。

這個越南最大的城市已經成為走在流行

時尚尖端的設計都會，主要原因是得到一眾

國際級設計師前來創建事業。他們受到擁有

悠悠數百年歷史的精湛越南手工藝啟發，例

如漆器、絲綢與刺繡等，都是他們的創作靈

感來源。

利用當地的各種素材、創作自由與蓬勃發

展的經濟，設計師將傳統手工藝與當代國際

設計概念成功結合，創造出別具特色與心

想，又充滿環保意識的越南潮流產品。他們

的設計散見於胡志明市各個新興潮流店舖，

贏盡遊客與當地人的歡心。

家居用品Dragon SmiLe漆器是越南最古老與著名的手工藝，由家族

經營的歐洲公司Dragon Smile巧妙地將之轉化為21世紀的新時尚。在胡志明市已有超過十年歷史的Dragon

Smile，旗下的國際設計師及越南工匠緊密合作，生產出光潤閃亮、完美無瑕疵的優質

漆器。

Dragon Smile的漆器具有傳統美學元素，例如在半透明的漆層中加入金葉或銀

葉；不過，突出的當代設計風格，才是讓他

們的產品脫穎而出的原因。

多款漆器家具與家品，包括碗、盤及小燭

台等，都是外形獨特、創意充沛之作，以非

傳統的啞色配搭抽象形態，再採用如番茄紅

等大膽鮮艷的顏色，匠心獨運。

gayaGaya由幾位以胡志明市及東南亞其他地區為家的國際設計師合伙開設，他們看中市場

上的空隙，於是在越南開設了首間國際設計

師陳列室。這間家品店於2003年開幕，佔地多層，開放式的空間配合優質設計，在當

年是開創先河的零售概念。

Gaya為注重設計的顧客帶來風格獨特的時裝、配飾、家具、家居用品和禮品等，每一

件都具備了國際級的設計水準。澳洲籍設計

師Lawson Johnston的布袋蓮藤製家具與法籍設計師Michele de Albert的漆器，是其中的表表者。

mantra英印混血兒Anupa Horvil、印度人Vivek Chaudhary與澳洲人Kevin Lane各有不同的背景與才能，卻為Mantra創製出互相輝映的產品。

三位設計師都對越南的傳統手工藝推崇備

至，故希望透過自己的創作證明越南的設計

在任何地方都能站得住腳。Mantra的所有產品都在越南以人手製作，設計豐富多變，從

Anupa別致時髦的手袋與配飾，到Vivek及Kevin的家具、燈飾及室內裝飾，讓人目不暇給。出色設計包括白色大理石檯燈與相框。

時裝mai S 曾是越南「船民」的Mai Lam，於1996年從澳洲回到她的出生地胡志明市，並成為當

地最炙手可熱的設計師。Mai精心設計的時裝、珠寶、配飾及一系列潮流生活產品，均可

在以她的名字命名的時尚旗艦店內找到。

Mai的設計既經典又充滿城市潮流觸覺，全都以傳統製作方式在當地手製，使用華麗

的天然布料，加上精緻、層次豐富的刺繡，

令人一見傾心。

店內佈置新舊元素合璧，還很有心思地添

加了越南色調，而且充滿表現店主個人背景

的細節。

Song SONG在越南語是「生活」的意思，由居於胡志明市的法籍設計師Valerie Gregori McKenzie創立，其採用傳統刺繡的服裝以大自然為設計靈感，講求環保理念，旗下的

高級休閒度假服飾、手提袋、配飾及家具均

能捕捉住熱帶生活的精髓。SONG使用的布料全是天然產品，以棉布、亞麻布、麻布

及絲綢為主。

SONG除了在當地設有專賣店外，在海外30多個國家的商店也有出售其產品。

iPa-nima Ipa-Nima可說是手袋天堂，出售林林總總色彩耀目而款式別致的設計。Ipa-Nima充滿魅力、創意十足的產品，出自香港設計師

Christina Yu的手筆。她的旗艦店設於越南首府河內，除了手袋外，高級配飾也是品

牌主打之一。

這些手袋以越南工匠的精湛手藝製作，

在河內附近的工場生產，以多種布料精心配

搭，再加上刺繡及珠片等裝飾，漂亮非常。

國泰航空獨家提供的頭等客艙女士旅行用

品包，就是Ipa-Nima的產品。

越趨時尚

the girL From iPa-nimaIpa-Nima’s mantra, “Be Original. Be Daring. Be Different”, sums up its founder, Hong Kong-born Christina Yu. A former lawyer, Yu moved to Hanoi and morphed into the High Priestess of Handbags, creating Ipa-Nima in 1997. The first Vietnam-based fashion house to achieve global acclaim, Ipa-Nima bags retail in Ho Chi Minh City and in prestigious stores worldwide, with outlets in Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

“The vitality and dynamics of Ho Chi Minh City is unrivalled, with huge potential to be the next big hip city in Southeast Asia,” says Yu.

Ipa-Nima designed Cathay Pacific’s exclusive First Class Female Amenity Bag.

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ipa-nima’s bags blend textures

ipa-nima採用多種物料製的手袋

Christina yu executives and celebrities. Ipa-Nima’s Ho Chi Minh City boutiques feature opulent, bohemian interiors with a distinctive boudoir feel –

think purple suede couches and elegant chandeliers. 85 Pasteur Street, District one,

+84 8 824 2701. new World hotel, g/F, 76,

Le Lai Street, District one, +84 8 824 3652

www.ipa-nima.com

DiSCover Vietnam 發現�越南

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