From skirts made from bamboo chicken cages to billowy dresses crafted from mosquito nets, a teenager from Khon Kaen is elevating everyday items of rural life to the catwalk to challenge entrenched prejudices of hi-so Bangkok.
Apichet Atilattana, 16, first launched his designs on Facebook. But on Friday night his inventive, humourous, and somewhat bizarre concepts made their catwalk debut at a fashion show in Bangkok.
His materials — bamboo rice steamers, banana leaves and hand-held fans — are loaded with symbolism in a country divided between the wealth and power of the capital and a rural majority who provide the backbone of the economy.
"I want to show people in Bangkok that Isan people can be creative," he told AFP. "People in Bangkok should start thinking out of the box. ... They have this idea that people in Isan are dirty, uneducated, but there are a lot who are successful."
Apichet's home town of Khon Kaen is in fact a creative hub. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes film festival, also hails from the city.
It is also a focal point of opposition to the ruling military junta.
Politics has reinforced the sense of separation between the Bangkok elite and the people of Isan, who some in the capital stereotype as ill-educated, unrefined and easily susceptible to the promises of unscrupulous politicians.
While Apichet, better known by his nickname Madeaw, is avowedly non-political, he hopes his fashion can in some way help bridge the social divide.
"I want to transform things seen as without value, useless things, into ones with value," he said.
"I had chicken cages at home. I noticed the hole, I put the cage on my body and it looked beautiful. ... I want to imply that you can't judge people by how they look."