Stripe International’s ambition to redraw Vietnamese fashion map

NEM’s confidence

NEM Fashion was established in 2002 and has since become one of ladies’ favourite fashion brands, with trendy designs inspired by French fashion. NEM’s popularity is due to the luxurious and convenient location of its retail outlets.

NEM Fashion operates over 40 retail outlets with nearly half in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with factories covering the whole country. The company’s revenue increases by 20% per year so far due to constant store openings, and is expected to hit US$26 million this year.

Based on these assets, NEM was not overly worried when Zara and H&M came to Vietnam last year. NEM’s representative assessed that these brands are a good fit with Vietnamese consumers’ taste and carry big foreign brand names, although their quality may not be as good as domestic brands.

The representative said that Vietnamese customers are not usually loyal to a single brand, they find and buy the products they like. “If they could catch their psychology, domestic fashion companies will keep up the trend and continuously provide new products,” he said.

Every month, NEM releases over 500 designs across the palette, from cocktail dresses to regular clothing. They are always highly appreciated for their trendy colours, style, and materials, becoming the center of the Vietnam fashion market.

Stripe International’s ambition

During last week, the negotiations between NEM and Stripe International Inc., a Japan-based fashion apparel retailer, over the acquisition went viral on almost every newspaper. Detailed information is still forthcoming, however.

Stripe International set up Hanoi-based subsidiary Stripe Vietnam JSC in September 2017. The company is located at 545 Nguyen Van Cu (Long Bien district) and carries VND175 billion (US$7.7 billion) of chartered capital. Setting up the subsidiary was part of the plan to take over the apparel business assets of NEM Fashion.

However, news on Stripe International’s website show that NEM Fashion was already acquired Stripe Vietnam in October. After the acquisition, Yasuharu Ishikawa is both Stripe International’s chairman and Stripe Vietnam’s CEO.

Yasuharu Ishikawa said that acquiring NEM Fashion is the first step in Stripe International’s plan to break into the Vietnamese market. They confirmed expanding business operations in the mid- and long term alike, concentrating on the ASEAN market, where Vietnam is one of the most important markets due to its potential from the large population and economic growth.

With more than 20 years in the apparel sector and owning many fashion brands, Stripe International’s ambition is to become a global multi-sector corporation. Ishikawa confirmed intentions to continuously develop towards this goal.

Business analysts said that Stripe International will not only acquire NEM Fashion, but also other apparel companies to expand its business.