Elle Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2011-2012 held its 7th year in Bangkok on 11-16 October 2011. This event counts as one major fashion event which Thai designers and fashion trendsetters have been waiting for. From the first time to its 7th year, showing Thai Fashion Industry tends to generate Thai identity through styles and fashion ways like ‘Think global dress local’, 2010’s fashion campaign proposed by
Bangkok Fashion Society, implied the new direction of Thai fashion.
In history, fabric and material of clothes were considered as the style and taste of that good-eyed who wore them. Pattern was focus on method of using the fabric to wrap the body (the fabric is known as sarong). Until the era of King Rama VI where many changes occurred, the way people dress was subjected. At that time, there were guests from Western country visiting Siam who were surprised how Thai people half-dressed, they thought of our country as ‘uncivilized’ culture.
We inherited dressing style from King Rama III’s era where guy is topless and lady wears strapless top with sarong. Since then, King Rama VI set new rule of dressing in the palace to be full-dressed wear with a new design imitated from Western style. And it dispersed in wider class – from noble to normal people, from Siam to others provinces.
Bangkok today presents its style more than just a wear item but in a FASHION way. Bangkokians make better choices on dressing these days comparing to the past years. Ladies dress with creativities and dare to try new theory. Guys’ fashion is growing faster over the t-shirt and jeans look. FASHION to us is the mix of person uniqueness, trend, the look, and no boundary. Street wear character has influenced Bangkok street scene recently other than common looks like vintage style, color bloc style or in(ter)trend style – like retail brand Zara, Forever 21 or Uniqlo. We're good at mix n’ match!
Enthusiasm about fashion in Bangkok has arisen in wider radius since the first fashion week back in 2005. The designers have realized what Bangkok’s fashion needs – not the trends, not the clothes and not the buyers but ‘the brand – local brand’. Local fashion is now in the world’s focus although it’s not the major export revenue of the country. Our local designers are being in spotlight of their creativities, talents, skills and their endeavors which have added the brand value in creating distinction to Thai fashion. Like
Thakoon Panichgul and
Koi Suwannagate; the two Thai native designers who internationally known in the world’s fashion scene and many more top-list local designers who remodel the city’s style to be a fashion hub.
Fashion and the city’s style are now in a perfect shape ready for the next steps and so on...say bye to high-end brand, local brand is my happy ending.
