Sustainable fashion makes a glam entry with ‘ao dai’ at Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort

Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort is dressing its staff in a runway-worthy collection of apparel that brings a bold, contemporary layer to Vietnamese culture, after joining forces with a sustainable fashion house. The 17-hectare resort overlooking Ho Tram beach has teamed up with Hanoi-based Chula Fashion to put a Spanish spin on the traditional Vietnamese ‘ao dai’ garment.

A tight-fitting silk tunic worn over pants, the ao dai is to the Vietnamese what the kimono is to the Japanese. Defying pigeon-holing as a dress or a pant suit, it has a 1000-year history and, it is said, reveals everything and shows nothing at the same time.

Meliá Ho Tram’s door women and waitresses don abstract interpretations of the iconic Vietnamese ao dai costume designed by Chula Fashion, turning many a holidaymaker’s head with captivating experiments in pattern and colour that also retain the feminine lines of the iconic garment. As a result of guests asking after the striking creations to take home, one-off dresses by Chula Fashion are also for sale in the resort’s gift shop.

“As both our resort and Chula Fashion have a deep affection for Vietnam and deep Spanish roots, and we both bring a fresh, contemporary approach to what we do, it’s only natural for Melia Ho Tram to join fashion forces with Chula Fashion, a sustainable and community-minded fashion house, to create one-of-a-kind ao dai,” said Manuel Ferriol, the resort’s general manager.

The hotel celebrated its opening in April last year as the first property to open in southern Vietnam under Spanish company Meliá Hotels and Resorts.