Word: thailander
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...called Greyhound did respectable business in Bangkok's Siam Center shopping mall, selling reasonably priced clothes that melded international urban chic with local tastes. For its co-owner and designer, an advertising executive named Bhanu Inkawat, the shop was little more than a weekend hobby. But in 2003, with Thailand starting to become more fashion conscious, Bhanu saw an opportunity: he quit his day job and poured his energy into Greyhound. Today, Bhanu, 50, presides over a growing style empire with 12 designers, 14 clothing stores and seven caf?s in Bangkok, franchises in Taipei and Manila, and outlets in dozens...
...same can be said of Thailand's fledgling fashion industry. No longer a cheap haven for the manufacture of apparel invented elsewhere, the country has lately been generating fashion designers like China churns out brand-name knockoffs. "I can count about 30 new designers on the market in just the last year or so," says Anna Limpichart, a fashion-show organizer responsible for next month's Bangkok Fashion Week, an annual runway showcase for local designers. Even seen-it-all international cognoscenti are taking notice. After attending last year's Bangkok Fashion Week, Paris-based fashion critic Diane Pernet said...
...What you increasingly see in Paris and Milan department stores and boutiques, though, are clothes from Thailand. The Senada Theory brand, by designer Chanita Preechawitayakul, is sold in more than 100 shops worldwide, and sales have been growing at an average of 30% annually for the past several years. Greyhound, too, is widening its footprint: overseas sales increased twofold in 2005 and a new franchise store in Australia is planned for this year. Department stores around the world, including Isetan in Tokyo, Barneys in New York and Harrods in London, also stock Thai-designed clothes...
...Bangkok can be traced to two converging forces, one grassroots and the other government-driven. Rising incomes and increasing exposure to international trends have built up a critical mass of Thai consumers with a taste for fashion and money to spend, creating demand for domestic designs that suit Thailand's climate and social scene without breaking the bank. Meanwhile, Thailand's Ministry of Industry?in an effort to shift the country's garment industry, which generated $3.25 billion in exports last year, higher up the value chain?has been nurturing the local designers, spending $45 million since 2003 to promote...
...WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The Prime Minister says he will resign only if the King wishes it, and such a royal intervention in politics is extremely unlikely. Bangkok will probably see more street protests, but, says James Klein, country representative of the Asia Foundation in Thailand, "I don't think this is going to get out of hand...