Issue 23

 

 

Thailand has long developed a reputation as a hub for gems and jewelry but at the 55th Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair, it was time for some of the country’s young designers to take the centre stage.

With over 3,000 booths, the Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair (BGJWF) is one of the largest gems and jewelry shows. Buyers come from all around the world to see best of Thailand’s coloured stone (“ploy thai”) market. However, at this year’s 55th BGJWF there was a distinct emphasis on youth.

“It is my primary objective to provide the opportunity for young Thai gems and jewelry designers to grow and compete at an international standard on one of the world’s largest industrial stages … and become the world’s top gems and jewelry designers in the near future,” said Somchai Phornchindarak, the President of the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association in his message to BGJWF 55.

The DITP’s Thailand Institute of Design and Innovation Promotion invited 15 rising stars from Designers’ Room and Talent Thai to showcase their collections. Designers’ Room is a project that supports Thai fashion designers to have an international outreach, while Talent Thai promotes lifestyle products on the global market. Both projects have progressed successfully over the past decade, claims ML Kathathong Thongyai, the Institute’s director.

“The objective of the projects is to support designers in the fashion and lifestyle industries in Thailand so that they can enhance their potential in order to enter the export industry,” he says. “We also aim to improve the capacity of Thai designers to compete with international counterparts. These projects have resulted in great improvement in the design industry and generated great value. Exports have grown exponentially, while the image of Thailand as the hub of lifestyle and fashion of ASEAN and Asia is strengthened.”

The fifteen designers were: RAVIPA, PYM JEWELLRY, NIMMIND, NAWATAN, CASO, PAKA, PILANTHA, PIXIE BLUE, ARQUETYPE, PAHKIN, DEFY, MAFIA, CARLETTA JEWELRY, MILLENOVE and METEOR.

“Since their inception, Designers’ Room and Talent Thai have been our Department’s pride,” adds Thongyai. “We are proud of having helped improve the potential of Thai designers by offering them design and marketing know-how. We help Thai designers become efficient entrepreneurs.”

The opportunity to meet global buyers was not lost on the young designers.

“Many buyers from all around the world are interested in our jewelry, not only AEC countries but also from Europe and Australia,” Thanisa Veerasaksri informed Horizon Thailand after the end of the show. Veerasaksri markets the jewelry designed by her sister Ravipa Veerasaksri under the RAVIPA label, which has been part of the Talent Thai project since 2013 and was included in the 10 finalists for Vogue’s Who’s On Next in 2014.

“Before the BGJWF I thought our customers are only Asian based,” she added. “However, after the fair I got many new connections from Europe. So I realised that RAVIPA can go far beyond Asian countries.”

For more information, visit www.ditp-design.com

Words by Mark Bibby Jackson