A lifestyle concept store called “There Vnd Then” has been launched in downtown Ho Chi Minh City by two Vietnamese fashionistas.
Boule Nguyen, a successful clothing retailer in Canada, and Huy Dieu, an entrepreneur with a background in Germany’s creative-lifestyle industry, said they want to make “There Vnd Then” “a holistic lifestyle experience”, according to InsideRetail Asia.
They have converted four stories of a retail building on Nguyen Hue Street into a 2,800 sq m gallery-style retail environment featuring a curated collection of upmarket streetwear brands, a glass-encased barbershop, a frozen-yogurt cafe and a rooftop bar.
“There Vnd Then” (the Vnd is a play on words, pronounced “and” but using an inverted A in reference to the country’s currency, the Vietnam dong) soft launched a week ago after celebrity-studded opening celebrations that stretched over two days.
Designed to take shopping and entertainment experiences to the next level for urban youth, the “There VND Then” store stocks over 70 international streetwear brands and limited-edition items under one roof, including YEEZY, Stussy, ALYX Studio, Mastermind World, Heron Preston, Gentle Monster, SUICOKE, DRKSHDW by Rick Owens, Adidas’s Y-3, Palm Angels and Medicom Toy.
The store also has a creative space for community collaborations and creative endeavors. More than just a shopping venue, it will host regular artistic and cultural events that reflect and shape street culture trends.
Tucked away inside the heart of There VND Then is a unisex barbershop that offers a contemporary take on traditional barbering. Services offered include haircuts, straight razor shaves, relaxing shampoo experiences, or any combinations thereof.
There VND Then also introduces Blackyard, a dessert bar that offers a variety of eye-catching and mouth-watering sweet treats such as decadent milkshakes, bright layered lemonades, and the signature black yogurt.
Nguyen and Dieu say they want the store to become an inspirational place to connect and develop Saigon’s street-style community through a diversity of shared experiences, bridging the gap between Vietnamese youth and the world’s expanding cultural and fashion scenes.
“‘There Vnd Then’ is more than a retail project to me,” explained Dieu. “Coming back to Vietnam with the idea of being part of this fast-growing country and sharing things that I’ve learned in the Western world played a huge role in my decision. Being able to give something back to the land of my parents means a lot to me and is worth all the sweat, blood, passion, and tears we needed for this project.”
“There Vnd Then” is already planning a second location, to be unveiled in the first quarter of next year and part of a long-term vision “to place Vietnam on the world map of contemporary urban culture.”
