“I was born into a family with a tradition of tailoring, and I grew up with the sound of sewing machines, so my passion for fashion and apparel was in my blood“, shared Ms. Tran Hong Hanh – Founder of fashion brand Rabity – in the podcast series Chapter 0 produced by Rising Vietnam.
Ms. Hanh is known as the “favorite daughter” of May Tan Phu – a business that has stood firm in the market for nearly 25 years. Before founding Rabity in 2015, she had worked at large corporations such as PwC and Nestle, from which she saw a new direction for her family’s business.
Ms. Tran Hong Hanh – Founder of children’s fashion brand Rabity.
“Blue Ocean” in the children’s fashion market
“First, I observed that the children’s fashion market at that time was a “blue ocean”. My colleagues, whenever they wanted to buy safe, suitable fashion products for their children, all had difficulties.
Some people with slightly higher incomes would buy foreign goods, because 10 years ago, foreign brands had not even reached Vietnam. Buying imported goods takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. The second way is to buy at the market or at stores on the street, usually the products are Vietnamese surplus goods or Chinese goods.
From that, I thought that I had the opportunity to create a brand that is Vietnamese, trustworthy, and close to home, which parents can buy at a reasonable price“, said Ms. Hanh about the idea of establishing Rabity.
In addition to the above reason, after working at large companies, the Founder of Rabity had another thought. Vietnam prides itself on being the world’s third largest exporter of textiles and garments. However, in the model of product value addition, manufacturing is the stage that creates the lowest value.
“Therefore, I have the opportunity to create a brand from the products that we have always manufactured. That way, I’m not just selling clothes, but I’m also selling a lifestyle, the emotions, and the joy that comes with the product“, Ms. Hanh explained.
The “board meetings” on the dining table
Although she was born into a family with a long tradition of tailoring, when she expressed her desire to open a separate retail brand, Ms. Hanh still faced doubts from the older generation, because May Tan Phu’s model was to manufacture and process for other brands.
“People wondered why we had to create a new brand with a different name. The business leaders believed that we should keep the name Tan Phu, because it was a name that had been built for a long time.
I still remember that the first store located in Vincom Dong Khoi was quite small, only about 30 m2. Before the opening day, the store name on the design board was still Tan Phu. After many discussions, which I jokingly called board meetings on the dinner table, everyone finally agreed to change the name to Rabity.
That decision was made just 1 day before the opening. I found a font available on Powerpoint to make the brand logo, then brought it to the store to make a sign to replace it quickly, after that I had time to hire an artist and a professional team to design the logo we have now. At that time, getting the brand name approved was a great joy“, said the Founder of Rabity, recalling the journey of persuading her family to launch a completely new brand.
Currently, Rabity has about 50 stores nationwide, located in large shopping centers and many prime streets, along with 2 branches in Cambodia. The brand is also the exclusive partner of Disney & Marvel and ELLE Kids, which is licensed to use images for the children’s fashion line from 0 to 14 years old in Vietnam.
Because Tan Phu company provides garments for many supermarket chains with branches nationwide, Rabity also inherits experience and understanding of different tastes and weather characteristics between regions.
When asked about advice for startups in the fashion industry, Ms. Hanh pointed out that young people often start their own businesses with something they love, that is, starting from their passion.
However, she said that if they focus too much on what they like, young people can forget to answer the question of how many people in the market also like it. Thus, the first problem that needs to be solved when doing business is “market size”.
“There have been many cases where people make very beautiful, unique fashion products, but the market size is too small, so it is difficult to develop into a large enough and long-lasting business.
After doing business in the children’s fashion market, I noticed that it is very encouraging that more and more domestic brands have joined. They are not only competitors, but also those who work with us to explore the market“, said the Founder of Rabity.
