Stars head for the hills for fresh wardrobes (4 Mar 16)
It's not often you see big stars like Cris Horwang, Araya “Chompoo” Hargate, Urassaya “Yaya” Sperbund and Jirayu “James” Tangsrisuk at the same event
But in this case the outfits were pretty chic - designed by Kris
Yensudchai of the Mae Fah Lunag Foundation - and the setting certainly was
hilly. They were at the Anantara Resort in Chiang Rai on Saturday for a
"Fashion Destination 2016" party hosted by L'Officiel magazine's Thai
edition.
More than 100 celebrities travelled north for the bash, at which James served
as emcee, and many of them were attired in gear from Kris' new "Savage
Guardian" collection.
Yaya looked truly sophisticated wearing a haute couture ensemble on the catwalk
while folks dined al fresco.
Kris has been working with the foundation for 14 years, dreaming up stylish new
looks for the traditional clothing and woven patterns of the ethnic tribal
people. He's used fabrics entirely made by hand (and looms) at the foundation's
Doi Tung project in the far northern province.
The name "savage guardian" is an homage of sorts to
the rugged people of the mountains and forests, though it's hard to imagine the
women in the mini-dresses Kris has come up with. He's covered that bit of
immodesty with jackets and topped the look with some impressive headgear.
His quilted tunic dresses carry various woven and stitched patterns, long a
mainstay of the Mae Fah Luang fashion lines but now modernised in terms of
texture and volume. Enhancing the traditional, Kris has utilised the latest
technology, and some of the fabrics mingle natural and synthetic fibres.
Asked to explain himself, Kris said something about mysterious forest
guardians, "the complexity of nature" and "optical art".
"We used more modern techniques like silkscreen, but we finished the
clothes with hand-painting and embroidery, which adds value to the
hand-crafting process," he said.
Kris has a bachelor's degree in interior design from a school in San Diego,
California, and got his master's in fashion design at the Istituto Marangoni in
Milan, Italy. Now he's a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, from which also
has a doctorate in fine and applied arts.
He's worked at the renowned fashion houses Prada and Isabelle Marant, and it
shows in his collections, which are full of creativity, involving innovative
material and techniques applied by hand. His work has been hailed as a form of
art, in fact, and is often seen on international runways. Last year he took
part in Designers Days Paris.
Among the awards both Kris has won at home and abroad was Designer of the Year
from Silpakorn University, also last year, and the bronze medal at the Designer
for Asia Awards in Hong Kong in 2008.
Another fashion guru, Araya "Art" Intra, did the styling for the
parade of celebrity savages on Saturday night, adding a blast of colour to
Kris' show. The evening ended up a great success, with orders placed for more
than half the items in the collection. For her part, Cris Horwang went home
with three outfits!
Credits: The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Stars-head-for-the-hills-for-fresh-wardrobes-30280456.html