‘Ao dai’ (traditional Vietnamese long dress) is well-known worldwide as the Vietnamese costume. It not only reflects the dressing and communicating culture of Viet Nam but also the soul and personalities of Vietnamese women.

A tailor measuring her child customer

‘Ao dai’ is the symbol of Vietnamese classical female beauty and the pride of the Vietnamese people. Although the national custom has gone through many changes over the past decades, it still retains the benchmark of elegance and refinement.

For that reason, many female foreigners to Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole, want to get their own ‘Ao dai’ tailored. However, they donot want to wait for several days, even a week, to get such nice clothing at big tailor shops.

In order to satisfy the demand of international tourists, especially those to the city on booked tours, tailors in the Han Market are now offering one-hour tailoring services. Visitors can wait or tour around the market for an hour after ordering such services to collect their tailored ‘Ao dai’.

Currently, the Han Market is now home to around 200 tailoring shops offering such services.

Ms Tran Thuy Kieu, the owner of the Kieu Tailor Shop in the Han Market, said during the peak tourist season between April and August she tailored on average of between 30 and 40 ‘ao dais’ per day. The tailoring cost stands at 320,000 VND per child and 350,000 VND per adult.

She added most of her customers were from South Korea, and they preferred to dark blue or black ‘ao dai’ fabric with hand embroidery patterns.

Ms Tran Thuy Kieu (left) consulting her customer

Ms Nguyen Thi Cuong, the owner of the Nguyen Cuong Fabric Shop, said foreigners, especially those from China and South Korea, love to get ‘Ao dai’ tailored due to its beauty and charming. 

In particular, cloth shops in the Han Market are offering wide choices of readymade ‘Ao dai’, sizes, designs, and colours.

Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, Head of the market’s Management Board, said the market welcomes thousands of visitors every year, and many of them are interested in ‘Ao dai’ fast tailoring services. Therefore, travel agencies often introduce such services to their clients.

She also highlighted the development of the one-hour tailoring service has shown local tailors’ active move to adapt to emerging demands of foreign visitors arriving in the city.

She also underscored the significance of this service in increasing earnings of local tailors, making the Han Market more inviting to foreign visitors, and helping to promote the traditional cultural value of Viet Nam.