Vietnamese spend $1.7M on buying traditional dresses 'ao dai' for Tet

Le Cong Tuan, the owner of two stores in Ho Chi Minh City selling ao dai, a two-piece Vietnamese outfit that consists of a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over trousers, said for the past three months he has been selling 5,000 of them a month at the stores and online.

Tet (Lunar New Year),Vietnam’s biggest and most important festival, will last from Feb. 8 to 14, 2024. The traditional festival will peak on Feb. 10.

Two youths wearing ao dai for a photo shoot at a coffee shop in HCMC's Phu Nhuan District. Photo by VnExpress/Bao Tran

"At this time last year I sold around 1,000 ao dai. So sales have increased fivefold."

This year buyers prefer the classic ao dai, which has a five-piece design and is made from materials like linen and silk, over recent years’ modern designs.

Many clothing and specialized ao dai stores are experiencing a surge in sales before Tet.

The four most popular e-commerce platforms, Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, and Sendo, sold 245,000 ao dai last month, up 6% from last year, according to data tracker Metric.

On e-commerce platforms 2,200 sellers offered 894,000 ao dai last year, according to Metric.Ao dai priced at VND200,000-500,000 are the most popular.

The owner of an ao dai brand in HCMC said sales have been booming: "There were moments when we had to temporarily close our stores on all platforms because we could not keep up with the orders."

Tuan said the demand is partly due to a viral trend of taking photos in ao dai to celebrate Tet on social media.

"Half of our customers have never worn ao dai before. Hence, they want to try it this year as many people are also wearing it."

Social media metrics tracker Social Trend said "beautiful ao dai," "modern ao dai," and "ao dai designs" are currently popular keywords for search.

A survey by social media tracker Buzzmetrics found "taking photos," "shopping" and "red envelopes" to be the most discussed topics on social network sites as the Tet holiday nears.

Tran Nguyen and her colleague wearing ao dai and posing for a photo in January 2024. Photo provided by Tran Nguyen

Tran Nguyen, who spent VND300,000 on an ao dai for Tet, said the price is reasonable considering its aesthetic value.

"Ao dai is no more expensive than casual clothes, but it is very suitable for the traditional atmosphere during the Tet holidays. I will also wear it on Lunar New Year’s Day."

In recent years the ao dai has been promoted and honored through various events and festivals.

Thanks to social media, young people are growing increasingly fond of wearing the garment, especially during special occasions and photo sessions.