The Vietnam-Italy Fashion Council was founded on September 17, during Vietnam-Italy Fashion Show programme in Italy.

The new council was announced during the Vietnam-Italy Fashion Show programme held at the Museo Di Roma. The first activities of the council are set to begin in early December, as Italian designers visit Vietnam Spring-Summer Fashion Show in Hanoi. Next year there will be a conference about materials and accessories made in Italy held with Italian enterprises. Italian fashion companies will also receive Vietnamese interns and designers for exchange programmes.

The opening of the Vietnam-Italy Fashion Show began with the song Dat Nuoc Toi (My Country), performed by Thanh Lam. Then the lines of Italian and Vietnamese models made their way across the catwalk, showing off ao dais, holding lotuses and colourful kites.

Thanh Lam continued the show with the song Tu Nguyen (Volunteer). Vietnamese members of the Vietnam-Italy Fashion Council and ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long also sang along. Before the end, the models gave their finale with a collection of ao dais featuring some of the most well-known architecture of Italy.

Not only did the show help build relations between the two countries, it also showed a young and energetic Vietnam to the Italian audience. Giovanna Marinelli, Rome's councilor for culture and arts, said the show was a proof of tight cultural relationship between Vietnam and Italy.

The birth of the Vietnam-Italy Fashion Council has opened the door for future cooepration between Italian and Vietnamese designers. The fashion show was attended by a number of notable figures, including the the president of fashion association AltaRoma, Stefano Dominella, Former Prime Minister Enrico Letta, Secretary General of the Italian Foreign Ministry, Michele Valensise and Chairman of the Italian Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, Pier Ferdinando Casini.

Fashion show held at Museo Di Roma

Thanh Lam leads the line of models with the song Dat Nuoc Toi

Singing along to the song Tu Nguyen

Ao dais featuring well-known Italian architecture

Designers Quang Nhat, Cong Khanh, Lan Huong, Minh Hanh and
president of fashion association AltaRoma, Stefano Dominella

Several notable figures attend the show