Shimmering in Silk

Proving that Thai silk isn’t just for the ladies, menswear brand 4X4 Man recently launched a collection of smart suits in gorgeous Mudmee silk for a showing at Central World.
The brand’s “Special Silk Project Limited Edition” collection features nine original patterns especially designed and introduced to artisanal silk weavers in Thailand’s northeast.
The special silk project is part of Central Marketing Group’s CSR programme supervised by Piyaphan Chirathivat in Ban Hua Fai of Khon Kaen’s Village, Channabot district, a village supported by the group as part of its Thai silk conservation project. Originally launched to generate income for this rural community, the project has expanded to include marketing and development, thus ensuring that the villagers remain engaged with silk.
Central Marketing Group provided assistance in the form of building sheds to store silkworms and mulberry leaves at each home and established irrigation systems to ensure that each home has a water supply sufficient to cultivate mulberry
 plants. CMG also funded the setting up of a cooperative and undertakes to purchase the woven silk fabrics as well as silk threads.
Determined to ensure that Thailand’s traditional material is used creatively, Piyaphan came up with the idea for a collection of wearable pieces that would encourage Thais to show an interest in and see the value of Thai silk before it becomes lost in the Internet age.
4X4 Man’s creative director, Platt Pladhi, was dispatched to educate the villagers in developing materials for design and production.
Along with his team, Platt worked to supplement the existing knowledge of the community with an understanding of design principles. The design team then conceptualised and designed nine prints that could be fashioned into nine distinctive suit styles for “Frequency” the label’s spring-summer 2013 collection,
What makes this particular collection unique is that each section of the patterned fabric was woven to a length of nine metres thus ensuring that each complete suit could be made from a single print.
The collection “Frequency” is inspired by sculpture and installation artist, Jim Lambie, whose installations are specially designed for the spaces where they are to be displayed and who is known for using coloured tape to create a contrast between materials.
4x4 Man’s spring-summer non-silk collection stands out for its mingling of fabrics with, for example, classic shirt |fabric with jersey and oxford weave blended with pique weaves. Patchwork is also featured, with blue fabric panels of ascending sizes stitched to a white background.
The fabrics themselves are woven using different coloured warps and weft, with white, grey, black and navy blue, beige, khaki and brown featuring |prominently.
Shirts are loosely woven fabrics and pure cotton is woven into different fabrics to ensure comfort during the hot summer.
This season’s suits are again mainly made from polyester, rayon and PU blends, making them wrinkle-free, supple and breathable while trousers are crafted from breathable and supple cotton and PU blends. Basic accessories are still crafted from black, brown and beige leather mingling with canvas and patterned silks in a variety of hues.