Selling Thailand to the world

Thai fashion and lifestyle products continue to draw compliments on the global market, goosed along by promotional events such as “Siam Center Presents POP FaD by DIPT”. Translated into more understandable English, that means the mall is showing “pop fads” from the Commerce Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion.
One exhibition has just finished and the next takes place from June 20 to 29 on the mall’s second floor, offering samples from the Designers’ Room, Talent Thai and 52 brands under the DEmark (Design Excellence) project.
Exports of fashion and lifestyle products were still on the rise last year despite the slow global economic recovery, the former valued at US$17 million and the latter $2 million (Bt556 million and Bt65 million).
The Commerce Ministry’s Thailand Institute of Design and Innovation Promotion – under whose auspices the Designers’ Room, Talent Thai and DEmark operate – has led the support for designers and businesses for the past 15 years. The DIPT meanwhile has set out a plan for their continuous promotion and development, with an eye to international standards in quality and the advent next year of the Asean Economic Community.
Among the brands on view at a pop-up store at Siam Center are Trimode Accessories, Brand O by Pipat Apirakthanakorn, A Piece (s) of Paper by Thanawet Siriwattanakul, the Urban Apparel, Yodyoko Unique Label and Adhoc, which already enjoy foreign success. The newcomers are Artwork, babas, Flow, Grey Ray, Maibe, Nimmind, Onelove, Panaobjects, Paul Direk, Pin, the Sleeveless Garden and Six pm.
“Trade competition in fashion and lifestyle products is intensifying,” notes institute director ML Kathathong Thongyai, “so business needs to differentiate to stand out, and creative design certainly adds value.”
Thai design is a “trendsetter and an inspiration for other Asian countries”, he adds, but the products will benefit from effective marketing and more exposure.
“My department supports new designers, whether they’re freelancers or in-house, in establishing their own brands. We teach them business skills and create business opportunities for them at international trade fairs, such as Milan Design Week, Vienna Fashion Week and Who’s Next and Maison et Object in Paris.”
Kathathong says overseas perceptions of made-in-Thailand products are shifting again, though there has never been doubt about the high quality, originality and craftsmanship. Long-time patrons who “switched their interest to China five or 10 years ago have returned to us, and we now have a better reputation when it comes to delivery”.
Wiyada Teawpongpant says her clothing brand, Adhoc, has been in the streetwear market for almost a decade, bolstered by experimental cutting and printing techniques and using black, grey and white as the primary tones. She and Saranyatach Kawinchotpaisan have together just finished the “Extraterrestrial Tribal” collection, featuring deconstructed (shattered) patterns of symbols.
Wiyada credits the DIPT with giving Adhoc international exposure and is looking forward to presenting a fashion show at Who’s Next in Paris next month and during Vienna Fashion Week in September.
Weerapol Wiwatkamolwat’s three-year-old brand Maibe reflects his fondness for the clothing of the 1950s. He uses colourful prints and textures, mixing classic shape with unexpected volume, and sells his wares on Facebook and Instagram.
Oneruk Sitthiwong got into the shoe business with Onelove because his mother is a shoemaker, but thanks to his design artistry he can charge considerably more.
“We both make high-quality shoes, but I play with fashion. The centrepiece of my spring-summer collection, for example, is the heel and platform in vivid colours and a spectacular bunch-of-balloons pattern. Special techniques are used to lathe the wood into an alluring heel or a chic clean look that shows off the amazing wood patterns.”

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Forward with fashion

Find out more about the brands backed by the DIPT at www.Designers360.net and www.DEmarkaward.net.