Chu Ngoc Phuong Linh (2004) is currently a first-year student majoring in Fashion Management and Business at Mod'Art International Paris (France). Once a stylish girl who loved to mix and match clothes, when she grew up, Linh realized that it was not simply a hobby.

Seriously wanting to pursue this passion, since her high school years at Nguyen Gia Thieu High School (Long Bien, Hanoi), Phuong Linh began looking for events and community projects related to the fashion industry. Linh participated in The Fashion Alley project, responsible for developing content for the Tiktok channel introducing fashion trends and important events in the industry.

Her love for the fashion industry grew steadily. When she passed the entrance exam to study Business Administration at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, amidst her doubts, Phuong Linh decided to “risk” stepping out of her comfort zone.

“If not now, then when? I asked myself and made my choice not to enroll in Polytechnic, even though many people advised me that it was the safe path,” Linh said. Luckily, the female student had the support of her parents, so she immediately started preparing her study abroad application.

According to Linh, there are not many schools in Vietnam that offer training in fashion-related fields. Therefore, she wants to study abroad and then return to apply her knowledge to develop the fashion industry in Vietnam.

Chu Ngoc Phuong Linh (2004) is currently a first-year student majoring in Fashion Management at Mod'Art International Paris (France).

Phuong Linh is studying at Mod'Art International Paris (France). Paris is known as the "fashion capital" with the presence of many long-standing luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Valentino... The female student believes that this will be the "ideal land" to help her cultivate and develop her passion.

To enter the school, candidates must go through two rounds of admission including: Profile (academic achievements, extracurricular activities, recommendation letters, portfolio (capability profile) on a topic related to fashion); Interview. The female student proved to the admissions board her strong passion through a meticulously researched and executed portfolio.

“I did a project on traditional Vietnamese costumes applied in modern times. The idea came from a trip to Hue, where I saw many young people choosing Ao Nhat Binh to take photos with famous landmarks of the ancient capital. I was impressed that a heritage of the Nguyen Dynasty was loved and used by so many young people.”

According to Linh, for a long time, international friends have mainly known Vietnam through the ao dai and conical hats. Therefore, through this topic, the female student also wants to spread the beautiful values ​​of Vietnamese cultural identity.

Competitive pressure in the fashion industry

Admitted to the Fashion Management and Business program at Mod'Art International Paris, the female student said that at first she felt "overwhelmed" because the learning atmosphere here is highly competitive. The school emphasizes practice, so from the first year, students from different departments are "mixed" and perform all the steps to "put on the shelves" a complete product.

“For example, when studying Kimono design, in my group, there are students majoring in Fashion Design who will be responsible for sketching and creating the outfit; there are students responsible for finding a story for the outfit to communicate; there are students responsible for the image, planning the advertisement... The entire course of students is divided into nearly 20 groups, each school year they will work together on 3-4 big projects like that.”

In addition, the school also cooperates with many fashion brands, so sometimes they are the ones who give "assignments" to students.

“For example, one time, New Balance came to my school and “ordered” a marketing plan for a new product. The group with the best idea would be used by the brand in its campaign.”

Through such competitions, according to Phuong Linh, the school wants students to understand that the fashion industry is glamorous but also very competitive, forcing students to learn how to deal with that.

Phuong Linh (2nd from right) is the 2nd runner-up of Miss Spring 2023 Miss Charming Vietnam in Europe.

Not only in big projects, in some subjects, students also have to work in groups, for example, coming up with ideas to open a fashion booth. From choosing a location, how to decorate the booth, arranging goods to attract buyers... all require creativity and logical thinking.

Outside of class, Phuong Linh has to spend time going out to update herself on new fashion trends or "searching every corner of Paris" to find materials and items that match the color scheme she plans to include in her project.

“We are forced to put ourselves in a real working environment, so we are always stressed because of the huge amount of work with many deadlines.”

Despite the harshness, Phuong Linh enjoys this way of learning. According to Linh, working in groups will help members exchange, supplement knowledge, and support each other to develop together. In addition, each student will also understand better each stage of creating a complete product on the shelf. However, to work effectively in groups, each member also needs to have an open and friendly working attitude.

Phuong Linh's study program usually consists of 3 months of studying at school and 3 months of internship. When she first came to France, Linh could only speak English, so she had a lot of trouble finding an internship.

Luckily, when applying to Elie Saab fashion, Phuong Linh was accepted to intern as a showroom assistant. Contrary to her thoughts that “the working environment at high-end brands is very rigid”, Linh was surprised when everyone was comfortable, open, and professional.

“Once, I met Mr. Elie Saab – the owner of this fashion brand. He even came to shake hands with each employee and intern. That impressed me with an open working environment, where the leader always pays attention to the smallest employees,” Linh recalled.

After 1 year of pursuing this major, Phuong Linh realized that this is a potential major with many development opportunities.

“In Vietnam, the fashion industry is just developing. I think this will be an opportunity for me in the future. Whether I study in France or any other country, my destination is still Vietnam. I hope to spread Vietnamese cultural identity through traditional national costumes,” Linh said.

Vietnamnet.vn