Five years ago, it was difficult for luxury fashion brands to enter Hanoi’s market, but it is different now. Louis Vuitton, which opened a small store in a shopping mall, has moved to a new location with a retail area of 1,000sqm. Christian Dior also has a new store covering an area of 500sqm. Louis Vuitton and Dior are two brands of LVMH, the world’s largest fashion and luxury group. Berlutti, a shoe brand belonging to LVMH, has launched its first store in Hanoi. 

Marc Jacobs has also opened a store in the city. This store has Marc Jacobs’ latest design with imprints that embody the spirit of the fashion house from New York.

Luxury watch brand Breitling has its store on Ly Thai To street. This is the first Breitling boutique in Southeast Asia with the Duplex concept. Earlier, Tiffany & Co opened its store at Trang Tien Plaza.

Most luxury brands are present in Vietnam, such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, Prada, Hermes and Gucci, Patek Philippe, Hublot, Christian Louboutin and Mont Blanc, Cartier, Hugo Boss, Bottega, Kenzo and Valentino.

The biggest luxury distributor in Vietnam is the IPP Group, which accounts for 70 percent of market share. The second position belongs to TamSon. According to Statista, the luxury market in Vietnam in 2020 had the value of $1 billion and it is expected to have a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 9 percent in the next five years. 

Matthew Powell, director of Savills Hanoi, commented that the presence of LVMH with the opening of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior stores in Trang Tien area is  a good sign of confidence in the Vietnamese market,  noting that luxury brands do not see opportunities in other cities and countries, as they think the business there could be risky. 

Vietnam is one of the markets with the best business performance, which explains why luxury brands want to join the market or scale up business. The retail rent in Vietnam is relatively low compared with other Asian markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Nguyen Thu Trang, a market director of a brand, said Hanoians are thrifty but they are willing to spend money on high-end products.

“Hanoians are considered hidden wealthy people and if luxury brands can please wealthy people, they will earn big money from the people,” she said.

Duy Anh