Le Thanh Huong on building Menard Vietnam and empowering women through beauty

The most valuable lesson Menard took from those early years was the courage to step beyond the confines of commerce and touch deeper human values. This shift in perspective shaped Menard’s philosophy and forged a distinctive path: each product carries a message of confidence and dignity, while every spa is more than a beauty destination. It is a sanctuary where women are seen, heard, and guided back to their most radiant selves.

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2009 – The Flag of Integration

2009 marked a turning point when Menard Vietnam represented Southeast Asian women at the brand’s 50th anniversary celebration in Japan. Before 2,000 women from 26 nations, the Vietnamese flag proudly fluttered at the heart of the Tokyo hall. “That moment felt truly sacred.” It was more than a milestone for a brand; it was a testament to the rising presence of Vietnamese women. Menard was only five years old, yet had already embraced a dual mission: modernising beauty standards while bringing the essence of Vietnamese femininity onto the global stage. “We understood that a true cosmetics house must serve as a bridge, carrying national beauty into international integration,” she affirmed.

This second chapter for Menard was imbued with cultural values, subtle yet persistent, gradually reshaping how Vietnamese women perceived both beauty and themselves.

2016 – Proud SON Music Night

The greatest turning point came in 2016 with the SON music night, when 3,500 women from three generations sat together to hear songs celebrating inner beauty at the National Convention Centre. The atmosphere soared when men sang tributes to women: a rarity, almost unheard of in Asian culture. “We saw mothers clasping their daughters’ hands, crying and laughing together to the melody of beauty,” Le Thanh Huong recalled with emotion. The evening became a shift in consciousness: Vietnamese women, no longer bound by worries over food and finances, were learning to love themselves. From its original vision, SON has become the most anticipated annual event, where the philosophy of the late President Daisuke Nonogawa, “sow seeds of kindness to reap sweet fruits”, comes alive in the radiant faces of Menard’s guests.

“What makes me proudest is not the sales, but seeing the women who once used Menard now bringing their daughters to the spa as though passing on a legacy of true beauty.” It is a journey where every lipstick and serum holds the responsibility of awakening authentic beauty, as enduring as the soul of Vietnamese women.

Looking back on her journey, Le Thanh Huong speaks little of her own achievements. The figures, however impressive, are not what she holds dearest. What she treasures are moments: tears shed in the treatment room, not from physical pain, but because someone felt, for the first time, genuinely cherished.

In a world where make-up cannot mask inner scars, Ms Huong believes a gentle hand and a compassionate heart can still heal.

“Many still think cosmetics are only about appearance. But I have seen otherwise: behind the make-up, beneath every skincare treatment, lie untold stories and silent wounds that women carry alone. Perhaps our spas have become places of rare serenity. Where the hands of therapists soothe not only the skin, but also send the quiet message that every woman deserves to be loved.”

The thread uniting Menard’s journey is its unwavering commitment to preserve, enrich and elevate the values it brings to women, the messages that stir emotion, the beauty that transcends the surface. Every campaign is conceived with the hope of touching the deepest corners of a woman’s heart.

Among countless memories, one remains indelible for Ms Huong: the image of a guest who had been with Menard for ten years, standing up to speak before 150 people at a Soulmate meeting. A doctor at an international hospital, she had come to Menard on what felt like the most desperate day of her life. Crushed by pressure and on the edge of despair, she had chosen to visit the spa as a ritual to “beautify herself one last time”. Yet the dedication and gentleness she encountered there changed her course. In that moment, she realised: she still deserved to be loved.

“Menard is where I found my sense of wholeness again.”

For Ms Huong, the words of that customer, who has since become a close friend, are the clearest affirmation of Menard’s mission: when a beauty treatment becomes a source of spiritual support, when a place of beauty can restore a fractured soul. To many, this may sound ordinary, but for women weighed down by life’s struggles, it is transformative.

“We are always grateful to accompany such journeys. Every day, Menard quietly nurtures the hope that every woman who visits us will learn to cherish herself and recognise she deserves to be loved. That is the true value at the heart of all our campaigns. Until now, the image of Vietnamese women has often been tied to sacrifice. That is true, but it is not the whole story.

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At Menard, we hope modern women will not stop at inherited values. Each member of the team embraces the belief that beauty is more than appearance; it is a vital step towards transforming the way each customer perceives herself. Our mission is to walk alongside Vietnamese women – inspiring confidence so that every woman can see and honour her own unique beauty. For a woman’s true value lies not in what she sacrifices, but in what she dares to love and treasure within herself.

That is when beauty reaches its deepest level.

We choose to walk with Vietnamese women not to change them, but to help reveal the brilliance that already lies within. Because a woman’s value is not defined by what she gives up, but by the courage to love herself. Not because she must become someone else, but because, as she already is, she is precious enough.”

“Menard is a place of healing,” she adds. Not simply a beauty brand, but a quiet, trustworthy companion, journeying with each woman – whole, complete, unconditional.

In a world of constant change, there are those who do not wait for the times to shift before acting, for they have always lived within the flow of evolution. Science has no end. Neither do art and beauty. This is why Menard’s journey has never paused. Each creation is more than a product; it is a statement of thought, of awareness, of aspiration to elevate the inner value of humanity.

For Ms Le Thanh Huong, beauty is also a long cultural journey, one that must be carried forward with refinement, empathy and adaptability.

Yet for that journey to continue beyond this generation, it needs successors with the courage to advance and grow it. Here, she places her trust in Generation Z, not merely for their education, early access to technology or global outlook, but because they embody the true energy of innovation: the daring to think, to challenge, and to create new versions of themselves and of society.

It is not a fanciful belief, but a clear-eyed recognition of a generation raised in the best of conditions, fully educated, and equipped with the foundation to overcome the limits of those who came before them.

That belief does not come with imposition. She recognises that each generation has its own way of approaching the world, and the role of the predecessor is not to dictate, but to lay the foundation. “Don’t use experience to impose on them,” she says. “Give them the foundation, then let them create. In this transition period, if they can overcome it, Vietnam will develop very well”. This is spoken not as a prediction, but as a firm affirmation from someone who has weathered enough ups and downs to know that prosperity does not come from chance, but from timely, thoughtful preparation.

That outlook also shapes the way she faces challenges. Believing in a new generation is never simple, especially in the beauty industry, where the smallest detail demands near-absolute precision, where each service and every new technology can transform the competitive landscape. For her, the greatest challenge is not dramatic events such as the Covid pandemic, which many regarded as “the end of the world”, but the quiet, daily struggles, like “raising a child who knows how to cry”: the need to understand every desire, every fragility, not only of customers but of her own team.

To her, Menard is always like a growing child. And as with any process of growing up, each crisis is a test of inner strength, an opportunity to become more resilient, to optimise further, to refine the way forward, ensuring the legacy she has built will endure.

The philosophy she follows does not seek to reshape the market, but rather to take root as a guiding value system. Perhaps the most “natural” thing about her is not the success or the recognition, but the way she safeguards core values amid the whirlwind of commerce: a quiet yet incisive steadfastness, deep enough to endure, open enough to embrace change.

And that, in the end, is the “natural thing” every entrepreneur must learn in building sustainable value: to be brave enough to change, and braver still to know what to preserve and to hold it, unwavering, to the very end.

Article adapted from original content published in Tatler Vietnam print edition, August 2025

Editor-in-Chief: Nikita Chu
Art Director: Andy Tran
Digital Managing Editor: Hong Dang
Photographer: Tang Tang
Stylist: Hoang Ku
Makeup Artist: Tung Chau Tran
Marketing Team: Ruby Nha Truc, Tat An Thuan, Haingoc
Producer: Giang Thao
Videographer: Thanh Hai
Photo Assistant: Icon-T, Le Bao
Stylist Assistant: Tran Quynh Duy
Producer Assistant: Huynh Hai Dang, Tuan Sang
Video Assistant: Vo Minh Tien
AD Assistant: Chau Duong
Watch & Jewellery: Chopard
Fashion: Le Lam

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