T-shirts with cool designs are hard to find. Cool Vietnamese T-shirts are even harder. But thanks to Kon Heo (« Piggy », normally written con heo), things have changed. Founder and designer Huynh Minh Hoang launched a pioneering Kon Heo collection two years ago. « I like T-shirts with fresh and arty prints, funny texts and jokes, Hoang says. But these kinds of shirts are always imported. Texts are in English and the prints are related to foreign culture. I wanted to do something truly Vietnamese, with Vietnamese jokes and referrals… in Vietnamese. » It did not take long from the idea to the implementation. Hoang has a good sense of logo, branding (Kon heo team planted a sticker on the top of Fansipan mountains), design. Coupled with a passion for hard rock (Hoang is the drummer of Atmosphere heavy metal band) anime and manga, he soon started what has now become the benchmark for Vietnamese shirts. He quickly set up a workshop and built a nationwide distribution network covering HCMC, Hanoi, Danang, Hai Phong. Word-of-mouth did the rest among the online and alternative community. All the designs are now visible on the website konheo.com, which makes it easier for shoppers to see what they like and ask the shop to get it.
The collection comprises the character tees, the couple tees and textees. Character tees introduce cool visuals. Some of the best-seller are definitely the “Toi iu Bac Ho” (I luv Uncle Ho) or the Mickey Mouse face with a “piggy” nose. The couple tees go by two. They are made of a variation of the same design, with a more feminine touch for the girlfriend. And the textees combine texts and pictures. “This is the core concept of Kon Heo. The jokes expresse the richness of the Vietnamese language through puns and Vietnamese proverbs, which become funny in this context”, Hoang says. At the end of the day, we want to create original shirts for youngsters who may have a strong personality but most all, great sense of humour!
He also wants the brand to be interactive, the people to be part of it. That is why he always welcomes design proposals and encourage people to send ideas. He actually offers 500,000vnd if they select and use your design. “My team and I have lots of ideas but we are open to suggestions. That makes the brand more lively !”
Hoang takes inspiration from artist Banksy and Obey Giant “engineering propaganda” urban style. “I like graffiti art. Not so long ago, I was doing graffiti and stencil stuff. And at that time, I was signing by the name of… Kon Heo!”
