Bangkok Fashion Spotlight

Gaysorn's Lifestyle Consultant Team consists of three lifestyle consultants. Khun Noppanuch Thongphakdi, who has expertise in fashion and style with her encyclopaedic knowledge of the latest international and local fashion trends, will help customers to identify their personal style before offering advice on suitable clothes, hairstyles and beauty products with the concept of mix & match. We asked her a few questions about this innovative new service, about trends that are hot, and what's not so hot...

1. Can you tell us a little bit more about your role as a lifestyle consultant at Gaysorn? What are your responsibilities?

At Gaysorn, I assist clients by providing them with advice on current trends and help them pick out clothes and accessories for specific functions or for everyday use.  I also help clients who wish to experiment with new trends or who wish to mix what they already have with newly purchased items.

2. What's hot right now in the City of Bangkok (current trends)?

Trends usually come and go and by the time my answer is posted on the web, they would have become so last season. Luckily, this season's trend is verging on classics, which means that you will be able to revisit them again in many years to come. They are all about rich fabrics and beautiful cuts, loose-fitting tops, skinny jeans, boxy jackets, tulip skirts, round-toed heels, platforms - mostly forgiving and flattering to all body types. The colour palette is divine with a mix of grey and camel, navel and black, moss green and brown with a tint of gold.

3. And what's not hot?

Over accessorized, wearing labels head to toe, buying loads of junk that you will never wear as opposed to investing in a classic piece that you'll enjoy forever.

4. Who are the people who consult you ?

Working and stay-at-home mums. They usually want a specific outfit for special occasions, such as job interviews, theme parties or advertorial shoots.

5. What do you think about the 'Bangkok Fashion City' campaign and the government's attempts to make Bangkok the fashion capital of Asia?

I have a lot of respect for the project. Thai designers are on par with international designers in terms of creativity and technique. However, some lack ambition and funding to make it in the international arena. There are some Thai designers who are doing very well overseas, building a name for themselves on the New York fashion circuit, which means that besides the obvious, which is talent, it all boils down to the right publicity. And I think that is what the campaign hopes to achieve.

6. What does fashion mean to you?

Something to enhance and reflect who you are. My attitude towards fashion is very simple. It is there to make the wearer look good. Should it fail to achieve that, it means nothing. A lot of people might argue that fashion is an art form and that there are a lot of thinking and philosophies behind it. But if philosophy means I have to look like a swan (literally) or a subject of ridicule, being simple-minded may not be so bad.

7. Who is the hottest Thai designer at the moment?

I like Grey for Greyhound and Sretsis - the former for its simplicity with an edge and the latter for single-handedly creating the whole bed-headed fairy look which was seen everywhere this past season.

Stripes, because you asked a 36 year-old woman with two kids! Polka dots are not suitable for people over the age of six unless they are undergarments. But you can never be too sure... Marc Jacobs might one day create something so spectacular with polka dots that will totally change my perspective.

Leather over leotard any day, dah-ling!  Like millions of other girls, I have my insecurity when it comes to skin tight clothing. Besides, what respectable lady would saunter around in their leotards if not heading for the gym or a dance class?

10. What is your personal style?

Clean, simple and practical. 

Miuccia Prada without a doubt. Her clothes represent how the modern girl wants to be perceived by the world: intelligent, cool and feminine without being overly sexy. Season after season, she never fails to wow critics and fashion worshippers with new idea that may look totally different from the last, but still every inch Prada.

It will grow more and more competitive with a lot of international brands flocking in. Consumers, of course, will win. They will enjoy more choices at more competitive prices, while local brands will be forced to reinvent themselves and rely more on their strengths, namely, more attractive prices, personalized service as well as cutting and fitting more suitable for Thais. Local brand accessories and jewelry are something to be proud of. They are unique in design and exquisitely crafted - no wonder they sell like hot cakes overseas.   

13. Being such a guru in fashion and lifestyle, does it help you in other areas of life?

Please, you make me blush! I'm not a fashion guru. I'll be happy if clients see me as someone reliable enough to do the job of updating them on trends and finding clothes that are suitable for them - not someone who gives them lectures on fashion at any given chance or being judgmental of their style. If being involved in fashion is helping me in anyway, it does make me appreciate the beauty of all things surrounding me. And the fact that my face will be posted next to this Q&A will win me a lot of respect from my six year-old son and that he will perhaps listen to me more. Would you consider that a perk?

14. Is there any Thai designer/label/trend we all should look out for?

Depends on what you are looking for. Go to Kai if you want a couture quality piece at an affordable price. Greyhound for practical, everyday clothes suitable for the office. Senada Theory for quirky yet stylish pieces. And Soda can never disappoint you.

The hemline will definitely be shorter; think above-the-knee dresses and skirts. Colours will be mute with white, beige and silvery grey tones. Shoes will be open-toed with stack heels. Oversized bags will still be in, and some designers even showed that off on their summer 2007 runway patent leather accessories - which are usually reserved for winter.

A pair of Christian Louboutin shoes for her and a tailored made suit from Ermenegildo Zegna for him.

Kate Moss. I feel a bit embarrassed and unoriginal admitting this. Saying that Kate Moss is the most stylish person is like citing 'The Catcher in the Rye' as your most favorite book - thinking that you are the only one who has a real connection with it, only to realize that the half of the world shares the same views you do. But, embarrassment aside, I have to admit that hers is the most effortless and most confident of styles. Dating back since the early 90s during which most of her supermodel peers strutted about in bejeweled Chanel suits, she emerged chirpily in an unidentifiable mini denim skirt paired with a simple top, a pair of Vivienne Westwood boots with a Birkin bag, dangling nonchalantly on her arm as if it were a grocery shopping bag. When she was with Johnny Depp, she made all the movie stars and models towering over her on the red carpet look clumsy and dull. She either donned a Galliano dress with hems sheared off expertly by the mademoiselle herself, or a vintage before the word itself has become so revered that most designers agree to refer to their dresses from three seasons ago as 'vintage'. That was more than 15 years ago and she is still at the forefront. Absolutely no one can match her.