One Step Ahead

Shining extra - the VIP cocoon in the men’s department.

A home and accessories department and a little coffee table literature - straight out of the concept store handbook.

One Step Ahead. Runway/ Ho-Chi-Minh-City

Runway, the first premium multi-brand store in Vietnam with a sophisticated design concept and an exclusive brand portfolio, is the brainchild of Hoai Anh Tran Thi. The shop can easily measure up to the competition in Paris and London, which is a real

pioneering victory in this particular emerging market. Text: Quynh Tran. Photos: Runway

When it’s hot outside, coolness is the ultimate luxury. Runway has realised this in every sense. In the heart of the city, the Vincom Center on Ho-Chi-Minh-City’s shopping street Dong Khoi to be precise, the first Vietnamese department store has created an internationally acclaimed respite from the tropical heat and the noise of the vibrant Southeast Asian metropolis.

Interplay of Contrasts

The 1,500 square metre space is based on the digital design of an ice grotto by Italian Studio CLS Architetti. It seems like a broken maze of white steel lamellas, which are a metaphor for the cycle of birth, life, and rebirth. The coolness of the ice grotto stands in contrast to futuristic sculptures, warmer leather and velvet elements, and Vietnamese wood and stone furniture. A shiny silver cocoon of 12,899 steel scales is located in the middle of the store, right in front of a VIP room with almost 9,000 handmade white plaster roses. The interplay between modernity and tradition, technology and craftsmanship, and reserve and abundance can be felt throughout the premises. One can find competent employees, who have mastered the balance between restraint and attention perfectly, at every turn.

Always Ready to Evolve

Instead of pomp brands such as Gucci and Prada, as one would expect in emerging markets, Runway offers a selection of exquisite European labels that are synonymous for good taste and luxurious understatement: Balenciaga, Céline, Givenchy, Jil Sander, Lanvin, and Saint Laurent. In addition to these established brands, the department stores also stocks labels that are less well known, or at least less popular, in Vietnam, such as Acne Studios, Akris, Alexander Wang, Erdem, Hussein Chalayan, Maison Martin Margiela, Theyskens’ Theory, and The Row. The brand portfolio and the sophisticated design that merges the East and West, illustrates how one can blend European elements into an Asian context both smoothly and successfully. Runway is therefore strides ahead of the emerging market itself. Hoai Anh Tran Thi, the founder and managing director of Runway, certainly doesn’t have to fear comparisons with European concept stores like Colette. Since opening her first store for Sergio Rossi in Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel in 2006, the young entrepreneur has expanded her fashion empire continuously. Her company, Global Link Co. Ltd., successfully implements

Runway Ho Chi Minh City

Vincom Center, 70-72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, Ho-Chi-Minh-City/Vietnam CEO: Hoai Anh Tran Thi Sales area: 1,500sqm Brands for women: 3.1. Philip Lim, Acne Studios, Akris, Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang, Antonio Marras, Balenciaga, Cedric Charlier, Céline, Chloé, Closed, Emilio Pucci, Erdem, Givenchy, Helmut Lang, Hussein Chalayan, I’m Isola Marras, J.W. Andersen, Jil Sander, Maison Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Marni, Paco Rabanne, Prabal Gurung, Proenza Schouler, Roland Mouret, Saint Laurent Paris, Stella McCartney, The Row, Vanessa Bruno, Viktor & Rolf, Vionnet Brands for men: Brioni, Givenchy, Jil Sander, Kiton, Lanvin, Loewe, Maison Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Sergio Rossi, Sonia Rykiel, Vanessa Bruno, Viktor & Rolf Accessories brands: Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Lanvin, Maison Martin Margiela, Monica Castiglioni, Rosa Maria mono-brand concepts for luxury brands such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Céline, Givenchy, and Loewe. Her excellent relations with the European fashion houses are the basis for the audacious multi-brand store. The consumer-oriented emerging market is thankful for her efforts. Since opening Runway in 2010, four successful branches have opened in Hanoi and Ho-ChiMinh-City. This year, there are plans to turn the mono-brand stores in Ho-Chi-Minh-City’s Rex Hotel, which include Balenciaga, Loewe, and Chloe, into an additional multi-brand store, which will also stock a private label. So it’s no surprise that Hoai Anh Tran Thi is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the Southeast Asian fashion world and was listed among the Fashion 500 by The Business in 2014.