Vietnamese heiress accused of being Covid-19 ‘super spreader’ launches hygiene and self-care product range

After catching Covid-19 during fashion week in Europe in March, Nga Nguyen decided to turn her traumatic experience into an opportunity

For N.G.A., a range of self-care items including hand wipes and face masks, she wanted to make ‘hygiene products into something beautiful that you celebrate’

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Vietnamese entrepreneur and jet-setter Nga Nguyen says the current spike in demand for sanitising products is not a short-term trend and that Covid-19 will have a long-lasting impact on people’s hygiene habits.

Published: 7:15am, 4 Jan 2021Updated: 7:15am, 4 Jan 2021

Nga Nguyen, a Vietnamese entrepreneur and jet-setter based in London, was inadvertently catapulted to fame in March 2020 when she caught Covid-19 during fashion week in Europe.

Her ordeal – and that of her sister, who also tested positive for the coronavirus – made headlines around the world, turning Nguyen into an overnight celebrity while she was recovering at a London hospital.

Nguyen and her sister were accused of being “super spreaders” and had to deal with a great deal of backlash from Vietnamese and international media.

It was during this difficult time that Nguyen, who has always had an interest in design and who had until then focused on her family’s real-estate business, decided to turn her traumatic experience into an opportunity.

“I was at the hospital but I wasn’t on a ventilator and I was conscious. I was blessed to get very good treatment and I was very impressed by all the sanitising products that they used, and that made me think that I should use my personal experience to start a line,” says Nguyen on a recent Zoom call from London.