Inside the 'training camp' for Vietnamese contestants before the WorldSkills competition

In a dedicated training room at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Nguyễn Thị Bảo Yến and Phạm Thị Ngọc Huệ are immersed in their craft, their eyes fixed on fabric, sketches, and mannequins. This intensive preparation is for the WorldSkills competition, where every precise movement counts towards the final score.

Bảo Yến, a 21-year-old fashion technology student from Ninh Thuận, found her passion in textiles and sewing machines, captivated by the transformation of raw fabric into garments. Initially feeling outmatched by senior students during the selection process for WorldSkills, Yến's rapid learning and adaptability impressed the selection experts. Her biggest challenge lies in design, an area where she feels her creativity is limited. To broaden her perspective, she studies numerous collections and exhibitions, observing materials, colors, and forms to inspire her own variations.

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The pressure lies in stepping outside familiar lessons to meet a more international standard of requirements.

Phạm Thị Ngọc Huệ, also 20 and a fashion design student at Thủ Đức College of Technology, shares a lifelong connection with clothing, drawn to the way flat fabric can be shaped into wearable structures. She notes that WorldSkills demands a comprehensive skill set, requiring contestants to master the entire fashion technology process, from initial concept to finished product. The daily training regimen starts at 7:30 a.m. and extends to 5 p.m., often with additional evening sessions. Draping exercises, in particular, require repeated adjustments to achieve perfect seams, shapes, and lines, as minor flaws overlooked in regular classes become critical weaknesses under WorldSkills' exacting standards.

Dr. Hoàng Quốc Long, principal of Nguyễn Tất Thành Intermediate School and a WorldSkills expert in fashion technology, oversees Yến and Huệ's training. He explains that the competition assesses a contestant's integrated abilities in design, pattern making, grading, layout, sewing, and the use of specialized English terminology. In the draping module, for instance, participants receive a secret fashion image and must then use muslin to create the design on a mannequin.

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WorldSkills requires contestants to have very broad processing capabilities. From looking at an outfit, contestants must develop the pattern, create the pattern, grade the pattern, and then go to the product. Generally, the competition includes many skills, forcing contestants to review almost the entire process of the fashion technology profession.