No fleas on this ’Hound

WITH EVERYTHING from teaspoons to big-ticket cars available through the Internet and brand loyalty in decline, retailers are having to look to new ideas to attract customers away from their screens and into the store. 

Popular fashion and lifestyle brand Greyhound is among the first to respond to the new trend, transforming its Greyhound Original boutique at Siam Paragon into a multi-brand, lifestyle store offering apparel, accessories and lifestyle products from a variety of brands. 

“Today it’s rare to see anyone wearing the total look of a particular brand name,” says Greyhound’s executive creative director Bhanu Inkawat, who has been at the helm of the local fashion brand throughout its 36-year history. 

“People today want to try something new. They are happy to mix and match clothes by luxury brands with accessories found at street markets to make a statement about their own style. Lifestyles are constantly evolving and we must be fully engaged and actively involved in their particular needs.”

The company, which opened its first fashion boutique in 1980, was quick to extend its reach, opening the first Greyhound Cafe in 1998 and Another Hound Cafe in 2005. Last year, it launched a 500-square-metre Greyhound Concept Store at the new EmQuartier mall, combining the restaurant with clothing and accessories both by Greyhound and its sister brands under the same roof. 

The 150-square-metre boutique at Siam Paragon has been completely redesigned to resemble an urban apartment with bedroom, living room, dressing room, kitchen and bathroom. The products are not categorised by brand but rather by room.

As at the EmQuartier, all the Greyhound brands are on sale here and customers will find everything from the cutting-edge designs of Greyhound Original to Playhound’s more youthful and more flamboyant street apparel and accessories. Smileyhound has neatly cut shirts with playful embroidered baby greyhounds, while Everythinghound has T-shirts, tote bags, scented candles and picnic quilts.

More than 40 local brands, most of them owned by young designers, are also touting their creations.

“With the rise of e-commerce and the mushrooming of markets and fairs, it’s become a major challenge to draw people to the shopping malls. Consumers enjoy discovering distinctive products by small entrepreneurs whose shops may be hidden in small alleys or sold only on Instagram as well as looking for small eateries in little-known locations where they can indulge in rare family-style dishes.

“We have carefully selected products by young local designers who share the Greyhound concept of style –basic with a creative twist. It’s a concept that also allows us to constantly rotate items to promptly meet the ever-changing lifestyle of customers,” says Bhanu.

Visitors can tap into the cycling lifestyle with Dots Design Studio’s urban bike that incorporates a layered wood veneer frame and refined metal with other standard bike parts, celebrate nature with handcrafted wooden sunglasses by Woodhours and Nakari’s unique solid-wood wristwatches or ward off climate change with Tua Pen Not’s bags fashioned by hand from rice sacks and fertiliser and flour bags.

Superstars like Patcharapa “Aum” Chaichua, Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate and Anne Thongprasom launched a fad when they posted a picture of themselves on Instagram carrying custom-made canvas duffel bags embroidered with their English initials. Thousands of people immediately wanted one of their own, which was great news for Masiri Tamsakul and Tanikarn Sukwatthanasiri of Nametag bag.

Their personalised bags became an overnight hit drawing more than 30,000 followers on Instagram and orders pouring in. Be prepared for a long wait, though, as making the bag and adding the customised embroidery can take up to a month. If you don’t want to wait in line, grab one of Nametag’s bags embroidered with either “GH” or “Hound” at the Greyhound store.

“We actually run a vintage clothing shop called Vintage Again and Again on Soi Thonglor where we offer a personalised embroidery service. We started out making the canvas duffel bags embroidered with our names and so many people wanted one, we launched Nametag a year ago online and accepted only pre-orders,” says Masiri.

And even though Nametag now offers bags in different designs and sizes in neutral tones, they are sticking to the popular vintage font that’s become synonymous with own distinctive style.

“Our aim is to make bags like a piece of art. We embroider the letters first on canvas then form the shape of the bag to ensure the right proportions. We do use sewing machines to control the distinctive embossed texture but otherwise everything is done by hand – there’s no computer programming is involved,” she adds.

Tanisara Poenateetai and Patanin Ngamkitcharoenlap fashion funky caps out of second-hand clothes. Their online boutique Madmatter has more than 4,000 followers on Facebook and there are more than 100 motifs from which to choose. Each cap is padded with soft fabric and comes with an adjustable leather strap and an adaptable brim made from plastic. Most come in pastel shades.

Every month, the pair does the round of the flea markets, often heading down south to Pattani and Hat Yai and east to Sa Kaeo to select wool jackets, sweaters, slacks, dresses, jeans, skirts, even kimonos. They pick items that are of good quality, have unique textures and are printed with interesting motifs. The fabrics go through a professional cleaning service to ensure they are clean then come back to the pair to be cut.

“One shirt and jacket can produce just three or four hats. We use the patchwork idea to combine fabric scraps from various items so every cap is one of a kind,” Tanisara explains.

Designer collective Pana Objects puts the wow back into woodwork with a range of minimalist household accessories that show off the natural beauty of wood. Their iPhone dock called Thumm won the 2014 Demark Award for its minimalist allure.

The dock is a concave beechwood slab that resonates naturally, enhancing the phone acoustics without the need for any electricity or hi-tech accoutrements. Simple yet functional, it's ideal for trendy urbanites. The collective started out selling items on Facebook in 2012 and now has more than 10,000 followers. With the emphasis on simplicity, the products boast the natural grains of walnut, beech and maple and retain the wood’s original hue.

“Maple, beech and walnut have shades and grains that are easy to mix and match in modern home decor. The designs are inspired by what we see around us, and we then modify these to make the items easy to use in daily life,” says co-founder Waewyos Sonthichai, who crafted the Sila smartphone and tablet stands from single blocks of maple. The surface looks sophisticated, even three-dimensional, resembling the rounded stones of a riverbed. 

Pana Objects also offers Frank – a square beechwood lamp that looks like a dog, with four adjustable legs, and the Shady wall clock boasting the same three-dimensional approach as a sundial. Among the stationery is the Blok pencil box in maple with magnets in the lid and the Crackie tape holder that resembles a cracker.

Hand-crafted jewellery, IT gadgets, furniture, stationery sets as well as ceramic ware, scented candles, aromatic diffusers and cold-brewed teas by other local designers are also available at the store. 

“The retail business today must find the right way to survive. We can neither live in the old world nor coast on past performance. It’s imperative to focus on how to be engaged and build strong relationships with our target groups over time,” says Bhanu.

The company currently operates Greyhound fashion and cafe franchised outlets in Asia including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, and Tokyo. Outside Asia, the Greyhound Cafe is slated to open in London early next year.

 

SOMETHING  FOR EVERYONE

Greyhound Lifestyle Concept Store is on the first floor of Siam Paragon. It’s open daily from 10 to 10. Visit www.Greyhound.co.th.