This year’s Thailand Fashion and Beauty Fair 2015, from May 28 to 30, is a good reminder of how fashion has become an important element of the Thai economy.

To prepare for the fair, held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, the Thammasat University Libraries offers a generous selection of books about many aspects of fashion design and manufacture.

The Thammasat University Libraries own many books on world fashion and beauty. In addition to general introductions to the subject, there are historical surveys from ancient Egypt until the present day; business-related examinations; instruction books about how to photograph fashion and how to merchandise it. There are guides to marketing and buying fashion; selling on the retail market; studies of textiles and sewing as well as knitwear and appreciations of some of the finest designers in history. Fashion illustration and drawing are additional topics of interest. There are studies of national fashion traditions in the UK; in India; Australia and New Zealand; and Japan. For fashion-lovers with a social conscience, there is also the issue of the sweatshops which form the basis of the entire industry.

Fashion in the Kingdom

Whereas years ago, fashion-conscious Thais might have traveled to Japan or Korea to go shopping, now all kinds of local designs are available, some from world-famous creators. Last year, Polpat Asavaprapa, president of Bangkok Fashion Society and designer of the Asava fashion label, told The Nation:

The past years have seen rapid growth in Thai fashion thanks to other lifestyle segments such as retail stores, which are growing in parallel. We are also meeting the challenges of competing with midrange international brands. We need the government to improve our image and show that we are no longer a manufacturing-based country…At Asava, we are on par with DKNY, H&M and Zara but to compete with them, we have to follow international norms on seasons as well as other aspects. The only problem of the creative economy is that as a designer, I have to compromise on design so that my clothes are commercial. But in the end, you want your stuff to sell. You want to do something that you love but you have to make sure that you have customers. You have to find the balance. This is the challenge.

Among Thai fashion designers meeting the challenge is the celebrated Thakoon Panichgul, born in Nakhon Phanom Province. Thakoon moved with his family to Nebraska, USA, when he was 11 years old, hardly a fashion capital. After studies at New York’s Parsons School of Design, his clothes designs began attracting attention from such high-profile, influential clients as U. S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Sarah Jessica Parker. Memorably, Mrs. Obama wore a floral Thakoon dress on the night in that her husband accepted the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. Included on the Nation’s list of 40 Most Internationally Acclaimed Thais, Thakoon is described as

an up-and-coming Thai-born fashion designer whose ingenuity and innovativeness in clothing construction and deep understanding of the ins and outs of business have combined to produce one of the hottest new talents to emerge from the New York fashion scene in recent years.

Another Thai fashion overachiever is Nunthirat “Koi” Suwannagate. Born in Bangkok, Koi Suwannagate studied at Silapakorn University and two California institutions, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and West Valley College. Now based in Los Angeles, Koi Design Studio turns out vintage cashmere and other hand-crafted pieces, as she told The Nation:

It’s all in the detail! I liked the old times when things took time to be made. I appreciate the value of vintage clothing and draw much inspiration from antique pieces and organic shapes. I love femininity paired with imperfection.

Another Thai fashion superstar is Disaya Sorakraikitikul, who trained at London’s Central St. Martins school. Disaya’s ready-to-wear and jewelry collections have attracted such noted fashionistas as Kelly Osbourne and supermodel Agyness Deyn. The art director and fashion designer Somchai Songwattana is the mastermind behind the Fly Now label. He chose that name, he told The Nation, because it suggests

that we are ready to take off now, not tomorrow…We create costumes for street people, fashion shows and high-end customers. Customers will find the same quality of clothes as world-class brands but seven times cheaper.

When traveling the world, Somchai enjoys visiting Buddhist temples and sweeping the floor:

Doing that develops mental strength. At the very last stage of living in this world, I have plans to devote my time to social work.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)