Ou turns homes into palaces

CELEBRATED designer Noppadol “Ou” Baholyodhin, who’s put his stylish stamp on clothing boutiques, restaurants, residential interiors, furniture and sanitary ware, retired some time ago from his London-based Ou Baholyodhin Studio to move back to his homeland, but he’s not been idle. Now, as creative director for home furnishings at Jim Thompson, he’s produced a daring new look and feel for the brand.

Two years in the making, his debut collection, “Forbidden Colours”, features silk jacquards, delicate velvet and cotton and linen in vibrant colours like saffron, emerald, turquoise and amethyst. 

Ou, still only 49, took his cues from the sumptuous colour palette of the attire worn by Siamese nobility at a time when silk and velvet were imported from Europe, mainly Italy. Silk-weaving was of course already well established locally, but the hues were limited to subdued dyes extracted from plants.

“Jim Thompson,” he says, speaking of the American who founded the firm, “revived the Thai silk industry through the introduction of vibrant colours, and now I’ve managed to extend his palette. We’re producing silk that no longer has that dry feel, but instead has a soft touch. It flows better, so it’s ideal for contemporary decoration.”

Among the 21 fresh designs, the most luxurious is the silk velvet Vesper in opulent, jewel-like colours ranging from sapphire blue and emerald green to golden topaz. 

“It’s inspired by the sumptuous textiles of medieval times,” Ou says. “The soft, deep-pile velvet could only be so luxurious because it’s made from 100-per-cent silk. This is Jim Thompson’s richest, deepest-pile velvet collection ever, and, with an extravagant selection of 23 colours, you’ll certainly find regal ways to add majesty to your surroundings!”

Nineteenth-century chinoiserie toile motifs were the basis for Ylang – fine cotton sateen on which a garden scene is printed with a background of ephemeral floating clouds – and for Eden, 100-per-cent silk with an oversized pattern in seven autumn hues, dominated by orange, brown and gold.

Ou also borrowed the notion of horsehair fabrics, as made by John Boyd Textiles in Britain. “They’re woven with finest hairs from live horses and are widely recognised for their unequalled lustre and durability,” he says. “Horsehair fabric was once used to upholster seats in cars and on trains and trams. It’s become very expensive, but I frequently recommended it to my customers in London.

“Here the design and production team and I have developed a fabric that looks like a traditional horsehair textile. Vara is hand-woven from a complex blend of silk and cotton with subtle two-tone earth shades – moss green and beige brown.”

Ou says his Bianca and Carmen are perfect for draped curtains, lending a reflective sheen. “The lightweight silk-cotton blend Bianca might look simple in its design, but it’s a complicated production process. It gives a three-dimensional sheen, playing with the light, and adds glamour and elegance to the room’s ambience. 

“And Carmen is a luxurious silk blend with an oversized cloud pattern that shimmers and ripples with the changing light.”

Anais is a modern interpretation of traditional hand-woven silk ikat with oversized patterns in seven colours, from flaming red to indigo blue, while Balthazar boasts bold geometric motifs on both sides, inspired by Chinese fretwork. 

With its metallic gold and silver yarn woven into a silken ground, Casper creates the illusion of a large trellis. And 100-percent silk Lamai is a super-soft two-ply fabric with a lovely sheen and a rough “slubbed” texture.

 

FORBIDDEN – AND INVITING

The “Forbidden Colours” collection is available at the Jim Thompson showroom on Surawong Road in Bangkok.

Call (02) 632 8100 or visit www.JimThompsonFabrics.com.