Trying to decide what to wear to work today or a party this weekend? The Thailand government wants to help. In an ambitious movement, the government is pushing local designers onto the world runway. The Bangkok Fashion City project intends to place Thai brand-name fashion firmly on the world map with the ultimate aim of Bangkok taking its place alongside Paris, Milan and New York.
Their efforts include creating a fashion school, Bangkok International Fashion Academy, with visiting faculty members from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Institut de la Mode, Paris, University of Central England, Birmingham; and Bunka Kaguen University, Tokyo. Professors and students conduct their research at the Fashion Trend Center, the country’s first fashion library.
The government’s investment appears to be paying off based on the response at recent Paris fashion shows. Three of Thailand's leading ready-to-wear brands, Grey, Senada Theory, and Fly Now, returned to Bangkok with large and unprecedented distribution contracts and placements for their Spring season lines in North America, Europe, and East Asia. Senada Theory, which is owned by two sisters, Ms. Chanita "Lee" Preechawitayakul and Ms. Tassanee Preechawitayakul, is available at the ultra-hip Fred Segal store in Beverly Hills and Barney's department stores. The Grey ready-to-wear line will now be available in seven major international centers -- Paris, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Manila. The U.S. stores carrying Grey include Vagabond (Miami), Heist, Bird and MOMO (Los Angeles), Talya Fashion Art (Laguna Beach, CA), Paparazzi (San Francisco), and Churchill (Kansas City). The appeal for buyers is a mix of ancient art forms with street chic.
Bhanu Inkawat, Grey’s Creative Director and a founder, says, “The government supported our Paris runway show in order to change the attitude of people abroad that recognize Thailand as a place for just silk and handicrafts or worse, a copy market. We want shoppers to realize that Thailand can also offer quality of design and production that is competitive with the fashion business in Europe. ” He says some of the brands to watch for on the U.S. market are Jim Thompson Silk, Soda, Tango, Fly Now, Jaspal, Chaps, and of course, Grey.
“It (the fashion industry) must move from cheap manufacturing to creative design,” agrees Dr. Surapone Virulrak, Director, Bangkok International Fashion Academy. With the latest techniques in production and merchandising, the country can differentiate the ‘made in Thailand’ label, a marketing ploy key to survival. “ When the cheaper merchandise orders turn to China, Thai designers have to merge into selling high end products,” he says. Right now he says the fashion industry is segmented and to be successful, designers need “to join the effort to develop the business in the same direction and fill in the gaps to push Thailand into the world market.”
”Thailand is like many growing countries, we have been through the phase of learning from other people but eventually we have to explore and utilize our own unique identity and resources,” adds Inkawat.
Thailand’s fashion tradition blossomed relatively late compared to Western countries, not until the 1900’s, but this lag may be one reason Thai fashion is unique; the people have held onto their traditional arts. “Her Majesty the Queen encourages all Thai women who are keen in weaving to earn extra income for the family and it is a success story that Thailand has maintained its traditional weaving art and technique while it is almost gone in Japan,” says Dr. Virulrak. “The Thai people are keen in hand woven textiles, both silk and cotton, with extensive colors and patterns, which can be a large source of creative design. Thais are very good in craftsmanship, which can be seen in the delicate and intricate works by the villagers all over the country. “
“Grey isn’t totally Thai in the classical sense,” says Inkawat. “We are modern and glamour Asian chic while definitely including Thai elements in our collections. In this Spring/Summer collection we adopted a lot of techniques from the needlework of the Northern Thai Hill Tribe in our work. Also if you see the collection closely, you will see that even the patterns of many jackets, pants and skirts are from the Hill tribe as well. Their patterns are cut in a very basic fundamental way, squarish without much flair, but they end up very unique and surprising. We blend yesterday’s cultures, traditions and beliefs with the modern attitude and current issues of the world today. It seems to us that the lines that divide the racial differences are at the edge of non-existence.”
For the latest fashion technologies, students enroll at BIFA with the ultimate goal of running their own businesses. Students in fashion merchandising are usually already working in the industry according to Dr. Virulrak. For example, a student in fashion design owns a shop in Chiangmai, and a student in Fashion Technology and Management owns a garment factory in the north, runs an outlet in Nagoya, Japan and wants to set up another outlet in Italy.
The culture encourages entrepreneurs. “Thailand means land of freedom and we certainly have plenty of great opportunities to express creative ideas,” says Inkawat. “There aren’t many places in the world that anyone can design, produce products, set up a stall in the Jartujark market and start your own business within weeks like Bangkok. I believe many Thai designers, including myself, are ready to expose our ideas and design outside of our homeland. But no matter how successful we are in Bangkok, it is going to be very difficult to step outside of Thailand. The world arena is very competitive and when you step outside your home base you are suddenly faced with so many talented designers and financially strong companies. We have to uplift our designs and quality to meet with the world standard and also change our internal system to meet with the international timetable. ”
By all accounts Bangkok is an exciting city right now with young entrepreneurs in art, design and fashion networking each evening in sidewalk cafes. Thanks to the designers’ exposure to Western cultures, the government infrastructure, and the world’s current fascination with all things Asian, Thailand appears poised to compete with Paris and New York. The good news is that the Thai designers are doing it on their own terms, taking the best of the west--modern fabrics and technology--and merging it with age-old handicrafts and traditions. Grey, for instance, held a fashion show with models holding candles in long gowns in a nod to the Asian belief that we owe our beings to the ghosts of our ancestors. When east meets west it may be the best of all worlds--or at least the best dressed!
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