London designed Hmong fashion to mark the Queen Mother’s birthday
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother of Thailand, has long believed that if you are to truly help people mired in poverty, you must enable them to develop practical skills to improve their lives in a sustainable way.
This belief led Her Majesty to initiate the SUPPORT Foundation in 1976 and this royal project under Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s patronage seeks to preserve and perpetuate indigenous arts and crafts. Now, thanks to the beautiful and imaginative crafts of these trained artisans, British firm Eponine London is enjoying both fame and fortune.
“It is with great pride that we are launching the ‘Artisan’ dress. This dress has been inspired by the artisans we met in Chiang Mai province, by the textiles displayed in the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, and by the crafts we admired at the Bangkok Style Fair 2019, an invitation to which was generously extended to Eponine London by the Thai Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP). With a keen eye for textiles, Her Majesty the Queen Mother noticed their great beauty and bought them for her private collection. The Artisan dress is made entirely from small pieces of exquisitely hand-embroidered fabrics sourced from rural communities in the north of Thailand. Hence every dress is absolutely unique,” said Jet Shenkman, creative director of the British bespoke brand, which she founded in 2010.
The London-based brand has become famous for its signature style, which blends elegant silhouettes of the ’50’s and ’60’s with an eye-catching combination of colours. The latest collection of Eponine London features carefully crafted Hmong cotton fabric sourced from Thailand, and thanks to the colour combinations, quality workmanship and textures, each dress is unique.
As a tribute to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother on the occasion of her 87th Birthday Anniversary, the Artisan dress will be launched on August 12 via the website www.EponineLondon.com.The full proceeds of the first dress ordered, and 10 per cent of all subsequent orders, will be donated to the SUPPORT Foundation.
