THIS IS LIFE
Freelance designer Teerabul Songvich has some strong opinions on the Thai fashion scene
KANOKPORN CHANASONGKRAM
Teerabul Songvich: ``We should build a system of Asia fashion cycle week, like Beijing-Singapore-Bangkok-Seoul, to make it a worthwhile trip for the press and buyers to come from the other side of the world.'' |
London-based fashion designer, Teerabul Songvich, came back to Bangkok for Thailand Graduate Fashion Week 2008, held at CentralWorld last week. A light-hearted character with a witty sense of humour, he gave an inspiring fashion talk, "Work in Progress" about turning designs into a collection, with his dazzling Material Girl coming to life on the event's catwalk.
Inspired by the idea of designing a capsule wardrobe for a fictional honeymoon ski trip to St Moritz by the late Barbara Cartland, the collection profoundly reflects the way he employs and works with various materials: printed sequin brocade from Switzerland, crystals from Austria, reversible lambskin from Paris and digital print leather from London. Besides doing his own thing, the famed freelance designer works for various brands - from mass market sportswear for Adidas to glamorous evening gowns for Jenny Packham.
What's his personal fashion preference? On the day of the interview, instead of donning a Comme de Garcon outfit to make him look more like a "designer", Teerabul wore a green Abercrombie T-shirt, red Ralph Lauren pants, and metallic Adidas shoes - a contrasting mix and match from his multi-coloured sportswear wardrobe.
The ace fashion designer said that he used to love black, a dress code for those working in art. Even though some people may consider he has bad taste for wearing clashing colours, he thinks that it's better than playing safe wearing black all the time. And when he's not sporting colourful clothing, friends always ask whether there's something wrong or if he's sick.
Did you always want to be a fashion designer?
I grew up playing with paper dolls and making clothes for them. Thirty years ago, people wouldn't consider being a fashion designer a job for boys - wink, wink, nudge, nudge. After graduating from Thammasat University with a BA in journalism, I did casting and costumes at Siam Studio. Then I wanted to really pursue my interest in fashion design. At first, it was supposed to be two years of study but it just kept on going.
I consider London my home now as I have been living there for 14 years. It's a great city for designers to develop themselves. Studying fashion design at Central Saint Martins in London, I found that I had a flair for it. While I was bad at hand-sewing, I loved pattern-making. The way I executed my pattern sometimes it seemed like that it would take forever, but I really enjoyed doing it.
And when you can make money out of it, why not make it a career? It's like if you're good at baking pies or making curries, you can open a restaurant to make a living. Simple as that.
So did your parents approve of this profession?
I don't think they ever approved or rejected anything that I decided to do, as we grew up as "free range" children. It's a good thing they never said "No" to us. We didn't have much money but my parents, especially my father, wanted us to study as much as possible. For my fashion design education, they supported me in going to London.
Why should we stop learning when we already have a BA? We believe in lifetime learning, and in the UK, many in their 60s and 70s are still going to school. I now have two BAs and an MA (fashion design womenswear, London Royal College of Art) and including my brother's and sister's, we hold so many bachelor's and master's degrees in various fields. We always joke that one of us has to make a sacrifice to do a PhD.
Do you regard fashion design as an art?
Fashion can be on many levels, depending on who you talk to, and it can also be about art. But some people may not consider it as an art but more about business opportunities and a way of making money, which is rightly so. If you go to Pratunam or Baiyoke you will probably understand their point of view.
How do you feel about it being a business?
I majored in advertising and learned about marketing at university, and so that helps me in my job as a freelance designer to understand that at the end of the day, money has to come in from somewhere for one to do things.
When brands give me a briefing, I try to fathom what they have in mind for the new design. If you go into Starbucks and ask for an ice latte, you expect to get some milky coffee with ice, not a cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Big brands will obviously tell designers what they want as in many cases, marketing comes first. They may say: "We don't do yellow because it never sells. We won't do orange because it's difficult to sell. We won't do lime green because no one wears lime green." But it's something that we have to work on, yet still use our creativity in coming up with new designs.
If one is a good designer, one should see that all the limitations are a challenge. I think people who cry that they cannot work because they lack freedom in their creativity are probably rather rubbish at what they are doing.
Do you also do menswear?
From time to time, I do designs for men. The difference between men and women, apart from their way of dress, is the body as men have no boobs, for example. Designing womenswear allows far more freedom in design. Menswear is limited as you can't have a man donning a chiffon shirt, which will make him a sissy - nothing wrong with that of course!
What would you say about your success as a Thai designer with an international reputation?
I don't really think much about fame. I'm just doing my thing and it happens that people notice it. But I believe that what I'm doing is quite good, but of course talent alone won't last. It's also about having good connections, good timing and to be doing the right thing at the right time.
Another thing that I want to point out is that people in the East may not see value in designs. When foreigners come to Thailand and see a lot of fakes, they may have a prejudice against Thai designers for copying designs. But, fortunately, big brands like Adidas trust me enough.
Any comments on Bangkok being a fashion city?
Wait till I get back to London before publishing this. I think the government has good intentions, but timeline and goals are rather unrealistic, mind you I wonder why nobody brought that up?
Anywhere in the world could be a fashion city but it can't be compared to Paris or Milan. Moreover, fashion is not our tradition. It's a Western system as they roll out Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter collections. In Thailand, realistically, we can do Summer then Summer then Summer. For us to do a Winter collection is a bit of a waste as it will be aimed only at the outside market. And if designers never ever use a real coat in their life then it's a bit awkward to have to make one, design wise and construction wise.
I don't believe that we can realistically do it alone, and should build a system of Asia fashion cycle week, like Beijing-Singapore-Bangkok-Seoul, to make it a worthwhile trip for the press and buyers to come from the other side of the world.
What would you say to kids who want to be a fashion designer?
Who am I to tell them what to do? Every person should live their own lives, pursue their own dreams, for good or for bad. Eventually, they will find out for themselves. But along the way, at least they can say that they tried their best.
And if kids want to be a fashion designer, prepare to work super hard and realise that for every Galliano there are another ten thousand unemployed fashion graduates - unreported.
Living in London for so long, how has Bangkok changed?
One difference between the two cities is that London has preserved its old buildings and the character of each area, and you can see inspiring Tudor houses, Georgian terraces and Edwardian mansions.
Every time I come back to Bangkok, there are new high-rises and shopping centres. How many more malls do people need here? I hope to see some rich people, who have a piece of land in the city centre, building a big library or an adult education centre and doing something for society rather than having another shopping mall.
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