The stylish, the smart and the elegant

Luxury high-end brand distributor, Club 21 (Thailand) recently made its presence even more keenly felt in the Thai capital with the launch of three brand new stores at prime locations. 3.1 Phillip Lim at Erawan Bangkok, Marni at Central Chidlom, and Paul Smith at Central Embassy

3.1 Phillip Lim
One of the most successful Asian designers on the international fashion stage, American Phillip Lim was actually born in Thailand to Chinese immigrants before moving to Southern California. Lim co-founded and worked at the Los Angeles-based fashion label Development from 2000 to 2004 then in 2005 co-founded 3.1 Phillip Lim with friend and business partner Wen Zhou, becoming the company's creative director. His collections, available here in multi-label stores for a few years, are now so popular with Thai fashionistas as to warrant a dedicated boutique offering the full line of clothes and accessories.
Lim’s new collection for autumn and winter is called Soleil and makes the traditionally dull winter seem a cheerful affair with brightly coloured prints that caress the female form. Structured fabrics are combined with fluid bodies to create asymmetrical soft drapes.
The bag line features three new silhouettes: the East/West Flap Shoulder, the North South Hobo, and the Mini Chain Shoulder Bag. Playful words decorate clutches, backpacks and small leather goods such as a simple, square tote with front bombe detailing at base and custom designed hardware at handles. One side is debossed with “Totes”, and the reverse with “Amaze”.

Marni

Italian fashion label Marni celebrates its second Bangkok store with an outstanding collection that underlines the defining elements of the Marni aesthetic. The stress on artisan craft and the appreciation for the conventions of couture, the offbeat touches and the painterly take on the treatment of surfaces mix and explode in bold new ways.
The silhouette is architectural and textural. What looks heavy is in fact airy. Roll-neck jumpers are thick and abstract; felt coats and roomy trousers as dense as blankets while padded nylon looks ready to face the rigours of the climate with a certain airiness. Metallic touches highlight the amalgamation of the artisanal and the industrial through laminated sheepskin coats and metallic toes on shoes. In contrast, craft turns into an exaggeration of the organic: furs are hairy geometric compositions of pure textural joy while feathers accumulate wildly on felt coats. Prints have a pictorial richness and the abstract figurations of German artist Magnus Plessen are transported as prints onto simple pieces.

Paul Smith

Paul Smith, meanwhile, unveiled its third store in Bangkok with a mini concert by The Parkinson and Season Five.
For his women’s collection Paul Smith deconstructs sartorial conventions, injecting femininity into tailored outerwear, neatly cut tuxedo pyjama pants and suit jackets panelled in contrasting cloths. Hendrix’s hazy psychedelia influences the palette; bright yet not brash, hot pink is offset by navy, mustard collides with cobalt blue and stripes of turquoise and gold alternate. Burgundy, petrol green and purple sit alongside gunmetal grey and the mood of the late ’60s comes through in clashing patterns, with paisley and floral prints appearing together on loungewear and candy stripes running down a louche-belted dressing gown.
The men’s collection is inspired by relaxed tailoring and a sun-soaked palette combined with opulent fabrics and exquisite details. Jim Morrison’s iconic style inspires a comfortable 21st-century elegance. A carpet fabric overcoat complete with jacquard musical notes establishes the silhouette for the collection with an exaggerated drape and soft shoulders. The look is completed with Oxford bag trousers that are tailored but boast extreme volume in the leg. Loose neck cashmere sweaters, sheepskin-lined hoodies and suede ponchos reassert a feeling of extravagant ease.
Sunset orange, sandy shades, midnight blacks and deep blues offer a nod to dusty desert drives, whilst lucid flamingo and palm tree placement prints are reminiscent of neon lights