Sitting across from fashion designer Nhat Viet at Mami Cocktails on Xuân Thủy, we watch the nighttime motorbikes flying past us. This year, the Hanoi native started a new life in Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, he’s entering a new chapter of his brand, Subtle Le Nguyen, along with other fashion endeavors. He says Saigon is the perfect place to make moves: the fast pace, the movement, and the daily textures around him make him feel inspired. For someone who relies on instinct, these details matter.
Viet has felt connected to clothes since he was young. As a teenager, he loved touching fabrics at the market and noticing how each texture made his fingertips react. “Luxury, to me, starts with a feeling,” he said as he looked toward the street. “If the fabric feels good on your skin, that’s the most luxurious thing. You don’t have to show anything.”
Since founding Subtle in 2014, Viet has become one of the most quietly influential Vietnamese designers of his generation—pioneering a distinctly local style of luxury with one-of-a-kind pieces that emphasize careful draping, simple shapes, and rich fabrics. His pieces have been sold in Hanoi and Saigon as well as globally through major platforms from SSENSE to H.Lorenzo.
Now, as Subtle reaches its ten-year mark, Viet is spending his days at his newly opened Ho Chi Minh City atelier, which he describes as the next step for his career. This atelier is not only a studio for production. It will operate as a research space for craft.
He wants weavers, dyers, pattern-makers, leatherworkers, and young designers to be able to experiment with materials and techniques. He wants them to create ideas without worrying about commercial pressure. For him, this is an investment in the future of Vietnamese craftsmanship. He hopes the atelier can become a place where new ideas begin, where small experiments can grow into finished collaborations — either for Subtle or for other brands.
With a new community in Saigon, a smaller and more focused team, and a renewed commitment to working by hand, Viet is entering his second decade in fashion with the same mindset he had at the beginning: designing through instinct and touch.
Esquire Vietnam: What made you decide to take the move from Hanoi to Saigon?
NHAT VIET: The people. Everyone has great style here. Everything is very vibrant. I’ve been in Hanoi for all 30 years of my life. It’s nice. Everything was very laid back, very chill. But moving to Saigon feels like a new start. I meet more people, I talk to more people, I recognize a lot of new perspectives.
Tell us a little bit about the collection that Subtle releasing this month.
For this current collection, I’m bringing back a lot of old designs but with new fabrics. I also introduced some new draping I did on the mannequin. It’s something fans of the brand will find familiar.
Outside of Subtle, you’ve been working on a new atelier. What is the function of the space?
The atelier is a space for us to maximize on craftsmanship. Leather making, new techniques, latex, fish leather—we want to experiment with everything. And if someone has an idea and they don’t have a space to execute it, the atelier is a space to nurture that project. And I don’t want the atelier to serve only Subtle. We want to work with lots of brands here. People who share our vision.
You’ve talked a lot about Vietnamese artisans — weavers, dyers, natural painters. How do you hope to bring them into your work more directly?
We have great traditional makers and artisans in Vietnam, but they haven’t been properly embraced. Oftentimes they don’t have enough income, so young generations don’t want to continue the work of the parents. Since I moved the atelier to Saigon, I really want to find these artisans — the people with good hands — and hopefully bring them in to work with me.
Subtle is marking its ten-year anniversary. What’s next for you and the brand?
I feel like there were so many things I did wrong. I was being too designer, too creative — I wanted to do so many things and it didn’t work. After 10 years, I want to restart the brand completely. I’m changing the silhouettes and techniques next year. 2026 will be a big reset for us.
What motivates you?
From the looks of it, it doesn’t look like I came from a difficult situation, but I did. I started very poor. Everything I’ve done until this day is from the profit of Subtle. That’s why, when I started out, the clothes were very simple and cheap — I just wanted to survive as a designer. I have a passion in making clothes. I don’t really think about anything else.
What was the moment when you first realized you wanted to become a fashion designer?
When I was 16, I went to America with my mom. We went to this store and I saw an orange dress. I told my mom, ‘You have to get this.’ Two weeks later, I saw Beyoncé wearing the same dress to the red carpet when she was pregnant with Blue Ivy. That was the moment I thought, damn — I’ve got a good taste.
Describe your design process a bit.
When I drape on the mannequin, I don’t really think about anything. I just go with where the fabric goes. That’s how I create a piece. To me, making clothes is very fascinating. I enjoy my time doing it.
Who are the core markets for Subtle?
It’s very diverse. I’m selling on H. Lorenzo, so the U.S., China, a little bit of Australia, New Zealand, Canada. People also come here and buy from me when they travel.
You’re also in the early stages of creating a menswear-focused house line under the atelier. What can you share about how that project will differ from Subtle?
We’re launching a menswear-focused line through the atelier. It comes out next year. It has a name already, but I don’t want to disclose it yet.
Images courtesy of Subtle Le Nguyen
