Vietnamese Attire
Harper, APEC leaders to don traditional Vietnamese attire
By Allan Woods, CanWest News Service
HANOI - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been the target of repeated joshing over his family-guy fashion sense, but if there is any silver lining around the dark design cloud that could gather above him this weekend in Vietnam it is that the Conservative party leader will be in good company.
The closing ceremonies of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, which begin Saturday, will see each of the 21 world leaders throw off their power suits in favour of local attire made to measure by one of the country’s top fashion designers.
The ao dai is the traditional silk tunic-and-pant costume worn by the Vietnamese, though, these days, only for special functions like weddings. Nevertheless, Dang Thi Minh Hanh, director of the country’s Fashion Design Institute in Ho Chi Minh City and the country’s “ao dai ambassador” has hand-crafted one for each of Harper and his colleagues. They will pose for the traditional group photograph wearing the outfit, which is worn with a black velvet turban.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is seen at the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office in Hanoi on Nov. 17, 2006.
“For the past eight months we have worked day and night,” Hanh told VietNamNet, an online news service. “Some elder people told me that, in the evening of Nov.19, billions of people in the world will watch the dress wearing ceremony of APEC leaders through television and through which they will partly see the Vietnamese soul so I’m nervous.”
To make the costume requires a tailor with the skills of a mathematician, factoring in more than 20 different measurements to created the perfect tunic. But what may worry the prime minister is that the outfit is said to flatter the fit and trim, and punish the rest.
It would not be the first time that Harper has endured stories about his dietary habits and his fashion bona fides, however.
As opposition party leader, he faced something beyond ridicule when he showed up at the Calgary Stampede wearing a cowboy hat, bolo tie and a leather vest that was clearly a better fit for his young son, Ben.
And for his first foreign outing as prime minister - a March meeting in Cancun meeting with his physically fit counterparts from the U.S. and Mexico, George W. Bush and Vicente Fox - Harper opted for a green fishing vest rather than the cooler - and - white cotton shirt, worn untucked and loose at the neck.
The special Vietnamese dress for the photo-op is just one of a number of steps that are being taken by Vietnam’s socialist government to demonstrate that the country population and economy are thriving as it transforms from a third-world to free-market economy.
The centrepiece of the two-day summit is the National Convention Centre, a grand, $300-million building constructed on 64 hectares of land that used to be a rice field. Built of marble, with a wave-like roof, it was built in two years but has no clear purpose beyond the APEC meetings, though Vietnam hopes it will attract international events in the future.
Local business is also using the event to market and sell their wares. A coffee company has produced 10 tonnes of coffee for the summmit, while Vinamit, a Vietnamese food company has sent 500 kilograms of dried fruit to the event, according to Vietnamese media.
Vinamit officials say the presence of their product at APEC, which is dried using a special process to preserve the fruits’ colour and flavour, sends a strong message about the state of the country’s agricultural economy.
“Only Vietnamese products of high quality and prestige are selected for the APEC Summit,” said an APEC official.
