IDEA & FOUNDATION
My first idea for UUU Designs was just the little handmade decor products for the house. I chose to do that because I always had a big passion on handmade work and material. When I came back to Vietnam in 2007, with my older sister and also one of my best friends, we started to do lots of researches to start the business in our hometown. As a result, UUU Designs was founded in 2008 in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
BRAND NAME, LOGO, AND WEBSITE
My first idea for UUU Designs was just the little handmade decor products for the house. I chose to do that because I always had a big passion on handmade work and material. When I came back to Vietnam in 2007, with my older sister and also one of my best friends, we started to do lots of researches to start the business in our hometown. As a result, UUU Designs was founded in 2008 in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
BRAND NAME, LOGO, AND WEBSITE
- Website: www.uuu-designs.com
- Fan page on Facebook: UUU Designs
- Domain name: uuudesigns (domain name used 2008-2011)
The original name of this brand is UUU Design. UUU was the first letter in my name (Uyen) and UUU was also my passion to Unfold Uniqueness & Urbanity. However, when my web designer developed my business website, the domain name uuudesign was taken. Then I had to change to UUU Designs to match the domain name uuudesigns.
Going back to the beginning of this business, the interior textile resources in Vietnam were very poor. I went to lots of textiles markets and trading fairs in Vietnam, even in Shanghai and Thailand, i could not find anything nice and different. The idea of importing fabric from Europe would not be great due to its original high price plus 60% import tax. I finally chose vinyl as main material . The thought of vinyl can not be luxury, but Ken Simmons - one of my favorite fashion teachers- used to tell me that "the smart secret is to use inexpensive fabric to make expensive designs".
At the beginning, UUU Designs focused on designing luxury cushion covers that used only vinyl as material resources. All of the products were made from leather vinyl, silk vinyl, matt vinyl, metallic vinyl, and texturized vinyl in order to give out different looks in collections of 2009/2010.
The market in Vietnam or else where was not working very well. There were lots of nice comments on the designs, but the buyers and their clients did not want to pay for the price due to the economy crisis. They requested more basic products than designed products, which meant less for the price.
On the other hand, some of my clients in the U.S kept telling me that they were very happy and impressed on the designs, details and the workmanship of actual products. That made me believed that i need to keep it going.
Going back to the beginning of this business, the interior textile resources in Vietnam were very poor. I went to lots of textiles markets and trading fairs in Vietnam, even in Shanghai and Thailand, i could not find anything nice and different. The idea of importing fabric from Europe would not be great due to its original high price plus 60% import tax. I finally chose vinyl as main material . The thought of vinyl can not be luxury, but Ken Simmons - one of my favorite fashion teachers- used to tell me that "the smart secret is to use inexpensive fabric to make expensive designs".
At the beginning, UUU Designs focused on designing luxury cushion covers that used only vinyl as material resources. All of the products were made from leather vinyl, silk vinyl, matt vinyl, metallic vinyl, and texturized vinyl in order to give out different looks in collections of 2009/2010.
The market in Vietnam or else where was not working very well. There were lots of nice comments on the designs, but the buyers and their clients did not want to pay for the price due to the economy crisis. They requested more basic products than designed products, which meant less for the price.
On the other hand, some of my clients in the U.S kept telling me that they were very happy and impressed on the designs, details and the workmanship of actual products. That made me believed that i need to keep it going.
PRODUCTS
- In 2008, we made cushion covers in vinyl only because we want to create something unique that no one else did. However, with the heat in Vietnam, it seemed like the material could not last for more than 2 years after you used it.
Appeltrebankes
Collection 2009/2010 made of leather vinyl and hand embroidery
Collection 2009/2010 made of leather vinyl and hand embroidery
Romantic Landscape
Collection 2009/2010 made of texturized vinyl and wood accessories
Collection 2009/2010 made of texturized vinyl and wood accessories
Time is ripe
Collection 2009/2010 made of silk vinyl applying hand embroidery and crochet
Collection 2009/2010 made of silk vinyl applying hand embroidery and crochet
- In September 2009, working on a
project of interior design for my sister's new built villa, i mainly used cotton,
linen, velveteen, and luxury viscose to design all the furnishings based
on her request. The positive reaction of one buyer from Siam Karat
when she saw these products in my office reminded me another practical
side of this business. Clients wanted to see more types of textiles
than just vinyl, and natural fabric was always more interesting than
synthetic. Beginning of 2010, following the process of marketing and
clients' requests, UUU Designs made a return back to the traditional way
to make cushion covers from pure natural fabric such as linen, cotton,
and silk besides vinyl. However, it still kept its own creations for
new collections of 2010/2011.
Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. -Michael Jordan
Coral
Collection 2010/2011 made of linen
Collection 2010/2011 made of linen
Monochrome
Collection 2010/2011 made of linen
Collection 2010/2011 made of linen
The free birds
Collection 2011/2012 made of linen
Collection 2011/2012 made of linen
Water Lily
Collection 2011/2012 made of velveteen
Collection 2011/2012 made of velveteen
Fashionista
Collection 2011/2012 made of velveteen
Collection 2011/2012 made of velveteen
Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. - George Bernard Shaw -
- In 2010, besides decorative cushion covers, we also made some fun decorative accessories for home. This was not our focused product line, but we might develop more ideas in the future.
Wine bottle covers
Collection 2010/2011
Collection 2010/2011
Beaded fruits and vegetables
Collection 2009/2010
Collection 2009/2010
Cup mat
Collection 2011/2012
Collection 2011/2012
Place mat
Collection 2011/2012
Collection 2011/2012
BUSINESS DIFFICULTIES
Mid year 2011, due to the company's undergrowth, I was thinking of closing the company and looking for a job. On the other hand, i still wanted to keep the website working but do commercial online only, which meant that i just needed to work whenever i had an order. Besides, i could work full time somewhere else and still kept my passion going. It might not be the best decision at that time but somehow it could help me being sure about finance.
However, one client from Munich RE told me that I should not give up because he saw a great potential of UUU Designs. It might be low at that moment but i just needed to work more on the business part, and figure it out how to deliver the products to clients. Or i need to close, or i need to find a business partner!
I knew exactly what the client tried to tell me as how so many people already said before, and how i definitely saw on myself that i couldn't do very well in business. I admitted myself of a failure business woman at this time, but there would be other times in the future. I would try again and it would not hurt to try!
Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds - Orison Swett Marden
CLOSING MAIN OFFICE
No matter how passionate I was in creating UUU Designs, and how much i would miss working on it, at the end of 2011, I decided to close the official company of UUU Designs in Vietnam. It was a long process to work on the papers, especially in Vietnam where you had to pay a lot of energy and money to get the papers done. At the same time, my web hosting vendor told me that UUU website hosting was expired at the beginning of 2012. After the expiration date, the website www.uuudesigns.com wouldn't be existed anymore, and all of the email accounts of this website would be deleted also. It seemed like everything fell to an end at the same time.
It was very sad, but i promised myself that this was not the end of my dream. I would create UUU Designs website again by myself. And i would continue no matter how long it took me. I just closed the official company to have more time to work on myself. One day, when i am on the good road, i will run UUU Designs in the good way again.
Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. ~ David Frost
NEW TRY AFTER CLOSING
Tempted to create a flash website as how i always wanted, I found a great vendor online where i could design a flash website by myself with a reasonable price. As for me, it had been the best vendor online because it was so easy and exciting for me to learn how to make a website. I started to try and to create the new website for UUU Designs at the beginning of 2012, and I felt so happy to work on it.
Right on February the 14th of 2012, the new website was launched with a new domain name "uuu-designs". The look of the new website www.uuu-designs.com was amazing. I felt so grateful that i had found Wix online where i finally created three flash websites on my own, one for UUU Designs, one for my interior, and one for my fashion. The results of what i had done somehow made me feel so good during this time. I could see a little star of hope for my UUU Designs. I believed that I would continue my dreams in the future.
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.~ Confucius
On April 15th 2012, i decided to introduce UUU Designs at Saigon Flea Market in Vietnam. It was a young artistic fair for anyone who loved funky, artistic, unique and rare products. It was kind of a small fair and not very professional like the other ones that we had in Vietnam. It opened for everybody who loved to introduce their creativity to the world. It was the first time UUU Designs participated a fair. Actually, i always thought of that since very long time, but the fee was very expensive. I couldn't afford $1500-$2000 just for one week. And Saigon Flea Market costed only $30 for half a day. I was happy !!!
It turned out not bad at all! After the fair, we got some requests on the website, an order from Decibel Bar, and a contract with Zalora to sell UUU Designs products on their website. It was a little funny about the contract. After 5 months that we tried hard and paid lots of money and stress to finish all the papers in order we could close the company, Zalora asked for an official contract with us. It was exactly 2 days after they announced that Uyen Uyen Uyen Design Company was closed, the director of Zalora confirmed with me that we needed a legal company to sign the contract with them. But then we still got it done because i had the back up from my parents' company.
I was not sure if it was working well for us but there was one phrase that i always remembered and followed
~Just give it a try, you don't know what happens and you have nothing to lose~
It turned out not bad at all! After the fair, we got some requests on the website, an order from Decibel Bar, and a contract with Zalora to sell UUU Designs products on their website. It was a little funny about the contract. After 5 months that we tried hard and paid lots of money and stress to finish all the papers in order we could close the company, Zalora asked for an official contract with us. It was exactly 2 days after they announced that Uyen Uyen Uyen Design Company was closed, the director of Zalora confirmed with me that we needed a legal company to sign the contract with them. But then we still got it done because i had the back up from my parents' company.
I was not sure if it was working well for us but there was one phrase that i always remembered and followed
~Just give it a try, you don't know what happens and you have nothing to lose~