The art of used plastic, courtesy of Vivienne Westwood

BVisit Vivienne Westwood’s “The First Exhibition” at the Thai Thai zone at Central Chidlom until March 19. ritain’s dame of punk, Vivienne Westwood, is known for taking modern punk mainstream, but she is also outspoken on environmental issues. It is no surprise that her latest collection to drop in stores for spring summer 2018, Anglomania, draws most of its motifs from the concept of saving the world through sustainability and using less plastic. Thai fans should not miss this collection, as it features some of the more blatant references the British fashion brand has made to Thailand. One of the main prints this season makes use of the Thai phrase kor khob khun, or thank you, next to smiling suns and southern nang talung (shadow puppet) characters. Running throughout the collection for both men and women, these prints are used across bomber jackets, shirts, blouses, skirts, tunics, shorts, dresses and T-shirts. The other Thai print you’ll see is the word raka, or price, next to a check mark inside a heart. Westwood was recently holidaying on our seas, and has drawn many of her inspirations directly from here. To mark the launch of the collection, “The First Exhibition” is put on display to create more awareness about our horrendous plastic usage and how it needs to be reduced. According to the exhibition, Thailand is among the top five plastic-trash producing countries in the world. These five countries throw 8 million tonnes of plastic into the ocean every year, equivalent to the weight of 70,000 whales, 950,000 elephants or 4,500,000 cars. It takes 450 years for plastic to decompose, so if we continue at this rate, we’ll be stuck with 250 million tonnes of trash in our oceans in the next seven years, all of which could harm marine animals and the very fish we eat. For a glimpse of how Thai influencers such as Pearypie and Note Panayanggool have incorporated plastic into art pieces, visit the art installations, on display.