Traditions Live On
A once-sleepy industry is finding relevance in today’s Thailand, thanks to HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS SIRIVANNAVARI NARIRATANA RAJAKANYA,
Last month, there was a rare collision of two fashion worlds. Perched on colourful Thai kapok pillows scattered on a wooden platform, some of the Kingdom’s top fashion icons and experts held workshops for local textile artisans. Among them were the Asava Group’s Polpat Asavaprapha and award-winning designer Wisharawish Akarasantisook. The audience, however, consisted of textile artisans from outside Bangkok – not the typical target market for the speakers’ famous brands. It was also organised by a government unit in the Interior Ministry, which is hardly the typical fashion institution.
Trace this backwards in time, though, and one sees a common thread: HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya’s consistent efforts to elevate Thai textiles. She is arguably Thailand’s most famous fashion icon, known for consistently blending traditional Thai crafts and contemporary fashion throughout her life.
For instance, early this year, the Princess gifted Thai artisans with her own mudmee (ikat) design, called Khor Chaofah Sirivannavari. The design is meant to be rendered in traditional Thai mudmee and similar textiles, but look closely: the pattern bridges Thai tradition and modernity. The love-heart symbol and the use of the English letter “S” are both symbols imbued with great royal significance and storytelling.
With this gift, the Princess also officially restarted a much-loved nationwide textile competition. HRH has invited artisans and textile crafts people to render the royal pattern as beautifully as they can, utilising their regional and local techniques, in particular in mudmee fabric.
The Princess has also, through the years, released countless designs in Thai fabrics and gorgeous Thai silk. For instance, last year saw Her Royal Highness’s limited edition collection of Thai silk bucket bags completely sell out.
Going back to 2015, a few weeks before her brand’s first couture collection, created with Thai silk, the Princess told Prestige that she grew up with this worldrenowned premium fabric. “Thai silk has been part of my life since I was a child, so I have a good understanding of it. I’ve worn Thai textiles to many events and to fashion shows abroad,” she said. “I feel that now it’s my turn to do something.”
Follow that thread back even further, and one begins to see that local fashion and Thai royalty have often gone hand-in-hand. Her Royal Highness’s attention to Thai textiles and craft is an extension of a grand, royal mission, begun in the 1950s by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother of Thailand. Queen Sirkit saw textiles as a valuable way for Northern and Northeastern farmers to make a living. In fact, the textile competition was Her Majesty’s creation, in an effort to promote and showcase Thailand’s invaluable heritage.
Seven decades later, royal affection for this exquisite craft continues, proving that real beauty never goes out of style.