“ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK” RETURNS TO NYFW SS ‘27
Four of Thailand’s Brightest Fashion Stars Invade NYC for One Night Only
Written by GAWAIN SEMLEAR
With the death of beloved designer Bob Mackie this week, the fashion world could use a little pick-me-up, and whether the second installation at NYFW of “One Night in Bangkok,” a showcase of Thailand’s four most celebrated designers, would provide that needed bump, loomed before its start.
Featuring brands Collector Project, KH Editions, Landmeé, and TARMAFIA, the show was far reaching not only in geographic bounds but genre, too—debuting a collection of clothes as cultural artifact and folklore, streetwear styles, and playful cascades of embroidery and lace. Held at the castle-like venue Capitale in the Bowery, the runway was steeped in a regality harkening back to the first ever presentation of NYFW (originally dubbed “Press Week”) at the Plaza Hotel in 1943, which, like “One Night in Bangkok,” was intended to promote designers outside of the dominant fashion scene.
The presentation unofficially began up on the balcony area, with a string of beauties lining up, some of whom even danced and blew kisses to the audience—showering the space in a joie de vivre that ran opposite to the stilted auras runway models can sometimes exude. The first to walk was Collector Project, founded by Ek Thongprasert. His collection was inspired, in part, by early nude photographs found at a flea market and a suggestive mural seen in a temple, but rather than using these images as provocation, he claims to incorporate them as “cultural artifacts that reflect beauty standards, human instinct, folk humor, and forgotten visual languages.” Wearing a mix of vintage workwear, military garments, chunky blazers, and jackets and shirts embroidered with genitalia and nude images, the models looked like your typical Dimes Square DJs and aspiring haute couture boys desperate to add a little piquancy to their fits. Counter to what Thongprasert was trying to achieve, these visuals felt hypermasculine and lewd.
COLLECTOR PROJECT SS '27
Next was TARMAFIA, founded by Tar Lertchaikunsathien. Appropriately soundtracked to the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” her collection presented denim and leather tops, skirts, trousers, and dresses with elaborate trains, most of which were embellished with patchwork sports logos, evoking a raw 1980s and 90s hip-hop feel. Outfits were further accessorized with ivory beads and paillettes that hung from garments, and in some cases made up the garment entirely. The maximalism of the looks was elegant and intentional and avoided appearing cheugy. The craftsmanship did not get buried under the excess.
TARMAFIA SS '27
Third was streetwear label KH Editions, founded by Naphat Tansuwan and Panisara Maneerat. The looks were rife with heavily-pocketed shirts, shorts, and pants accompanied by functional gear: straps, safari-style hiking hats, and extra pouches. As if they were warriors destined to forge their way through an apocalyptic jungle, the models gave off a “the end is near” vibe that felt concurrent with a number of climates, political and environmental.
KH EDITIONS SS '27
The last collection and showstopper was presented by womenswear brand Landmeé, founded by Netdaw Vattanasimakon. Moving between form-fitting confections of ribbons, embroidery, and silk, sensuous and sassy wide-hipped skirts, color pops of queenly yellows, pinks, blues, and greens, and loose yet erotically potent dresses, the pieces became an embodiment of fashion icon Diana Vreeland’s proverb that “the eye has to travel” and move beyond reality into the luxuriant realm of imagination. Each look transported viewers to a fantasy punctuated by illicitness, flirtation, and inchoate desire. Half-formed but also fully realized, Landmeé’s world, charged with contradiction and suggestive poise, shows fashion not as a static object but a movable force that encourages us to think past the container of what’s right there.
LANDMEÉ SS '27
The showcase did not disappoint and emitted a care-free and jubilant energy. From the sultry attitude of the models’ walks to the thumping music that accompanied each collection, the atmosphere was immersive, with the audience getting into it more than once, bopping their heads, tapping their toes, and smiling unabashedly. Unanimously, it seemed, we shed the masks we were wearing and remembered one of the central tenets of NYFW: to relish in the beauty of life.
Photos courtsey of RANDY BROOKE
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