Trà Đá #17

“When a beautiful rose dies beauty does not die because it is not really in the rose.

Beauty is an awareness in the mind.”

▲ Huy Bui – Ollie BS Wallride

Agnes Martin (1912 - 2004)

Hey Liem, you recently came back from a month trip in Europe. How was the trip? It was your first time there right?

Yeah, I just came back from Europe. I was there with my mother and few friends. We visited Spain ,Germany ,Italy ,France, Austria Netherlands , Slovenia and Switzerland.

That was my dream for so long, travelling, skating there and finally we made it!

What was the main difference between your perception of western country and the reality?

Western countries are so beautiful, the natural landscapes, the cities… Everything is good there!

I just wish there were less racism there. At least I smile and try to be nice to everybody I met [laughs] !

Which place was your favorite ?

Amsterdam is definitely my favourite. It is a beautiful city with all the small canals. Very peaceful there, people just ride around their bicycle and everything is easier for us because the locals speak English very well.

On the contrary, what was your worst experience during this trip?

In Barcelona, we almost got rubbed in the middle of the day. Hopefully, we were too many so they ran away. That’s something I didn’t expect in a develop country.

So finally after spending a month there, would you like to leave in Europe one day?

I wish one day I will have the opportunity to develop my brand in Europe, move back and forth between Vietnam and Europe… That would be amazing!

I would like to help the kids to embrace the difference, to stop racism and create a tight community.

You are the creator and the owner of the clothes brand “Have Fun with the Homies” which is pretty famous in Vietnam. Can you tell us about when, how and why you started?

I started my brand because when I was pretty young and broke! [laughs] I always feel better and more positive when I am with my friend, skating everyday together . So one day, I thought it was time to make my life better so I started to design my first jacket and sold it with the name HFWTH. Luckily it worked well from the beginning. My friends helped me a lot from the beginning too. So I am very grateful for where I am now.

What are you trying to express through your brand?

It looks like a lot of your inspiration is from the US culture.

My inspiration came from the skate culture not specifically from the US! [laughs] I watched so many skaters on Youtube. I thought they looked so cool wearing black clothes. So i designed only black clothes! [laughs] I am a type of person who love friends , party and having great memories travelling around. That’s the main things I want to express through my brand.

Basically everything comes from skateboarding, my life before skating was sad and bored.

Do you have any secrets for the rapid success of your brand? [laughs] My secret to success is just help everybody around everyday ,help all the old homeless people ,be kind and smile to all your friends , and work with your heart without thinking about money.

Nowadays, you are the owner of clothes brand well established in Vietnam. Whats the best thing about being in your position now?

The best things of being a founder of a brand is that I can wear everything I design! [laughs] But the best feeling is that I can help my mom to live a better life now. She doesn’t have to worry about the future anymore.

Whats next for Have Fun With The Homies?

Ho Chi Minh City is a huge city but we don’t have any skatepark sadly. Most of the streets are guarded by security so you can’t really skate. I will try to build some DIY and maybe one day a skatepark…

And of course, I will keep supporting my friends until the day they all succeed so we all have money to travel the world and skate together .

It’s been my dream for 10 years already.

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