Eastern Treasure

A quick stroll down the city’s main street,the Sukhumvit,is a revelation. It’s lined by large department stores,standing cheek by jowl,where sometimes you have to traverse from one mall into another to get to a train station. Much of Bangkok is connected by a fabulous network of sky trains,by the BTS,and taxis aren’t that taxing on the wallet either.

One can hardly have an eyeful of the ladies on the Sukhumvit; each one is dressed in the latest fashions as a working woman in a French or Italian city would. If you want to know what’s au courant in Europe,just look around these parts.

Bangkok fashion cannot just be called the trash-fash junk one sees at Mumbai’s Hill Road boutiques or Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar stalls. The city today is a powerhouse of international style. Shopping here isn’t just about what’s cheap and (barely there) chic ,it’s the sheer density and variety on offer that makes you want to buy and buy some more.

Besides the French triumvirate of Louis Vuitton-Chanel-Christian Dior,the malls here also house some of the smaller and more fashionable European labels,like Marni,Balenciaga and the American Marc Jacobs. Also in the centre of the city is Pat Pong,the area which houses the local Night Market. It isn’t quite unlike les puces (flea markets) of Paris or the edgy Portobello and Camden of London,except that they sell enough fakes to proselytize you. It’s a great place to pick up junk baubles from Tiffany,Bulgari,Dior and Chanel and leather ware from the usual suspects (I even saw a few Tod’s wallets,who would think such a quiet label like Tod’s would be copied?)

Thailand today is a hub of homegrown labels,a growing art scene and emerging literary giants. It has also become the home of Asian haute couture: US-based Thakoon and Koi Suwannagate have admirers and clients in Michelle Obama and Sarah Jessica Parker,and are sold on netaporter.com.

Newer names are making the right kind of noises internationally,too. Former Max Mara fashion director Polpat Asavaprapha’s label Asava has designed Bangkok Airways super-stylish uniforms in every imaginable shade of azure. WRKROOM is a label owned by Korean Je Jung and his Thai wife Rujira,both of whom have consulted with Gap. Tipayaphong Poosanaphong has evilly combined his tongue-twisting names as his label; he lives in Paris and calls his work ‘ready-to-couture’. Tube Gallery is a label owned by two friends Saksit and Phisit; its fairy-tale gowns reminiscent of Alexander McQueen,Christian Dior and Vivenne Westwood.

The kingdom of Thailand has ensured the country is more than stunning beaches and affable people,it has well understood that shopping is a major tourist attraction.

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