Rukpong Raimaturapong: “Why do I keep doing fashion?”

While Rukpong Raimaturapong is talking us through his work as a multimedia artist from his studio flat in Paris, a white light pierces through the window, gently glides on the silky surface of the suits and jackets hanging on a rack behind him, and makes them glimmer. In those mornings when the northern sky is so dull and dense, it seems to occupy its own space in the room, the pale walls of a rented flat (that’s how you might recognise one) may appear even more bare and glacial. Those clothes, however, that belong to his last collection, provide a vivid, reassuring background for Rukpong’s smiley face. And, according to the Thai designer, to inspire a sense of liveliness and shift the focus from the turmoil of our times was the main purpose of the project.

“I’ve lived in Thailand for most of my life and even inside our houses we have no control over colour; we just buy things without thinking if they go together or not.” – Rukpong Raimaturapong

“United” is a reinterpretation of the men’s wardrobe, from suits to sportswear, through a masterful, yet refreshing use of shapes, materials and colours. With the latter being not just simply an absolute protagonist of the collection – it is the way he pairs a fuchsia, wide-brimmed, straw hat and a silken, tight suit in the most electric blue, that catches the eye – but also of all Rukpong’s imagery. In his Instagram account, blending among the pictures from his works and still life compositions, there are the snaps, intentionally blurred and raw, of his time in Thailand.  Between visual diary, street photography and fashion portfolio, the designer carries out an exploration of colour, from its plasticky, cheap textures to its most precious use in handwoven textiles. “I’ve lived in Thailand for most of my life and even inside our houses we have no control over colour; we just buy things without thinking if they go together or not. And then you step outside and there are buildings in different colours too. We just add things on, renovate and paint whatever we want. It’s a very postmodern approach to architecture and design, and I think this sense of colour is already embedded in the environments and in the way we live.”

However, colour is just one way of referencing and paying homage to Thailand. A prolonged physical distance from one’s own country implies in most cases recurring thoughts about their home. Being in Paris for the past five years, Rukpong has found himself reflecting on the political division of Thailand and the cracks that run throughout its population, widened by social and economic injustice. The collection responds to the need of feeling “united” through clothes. “I just wanted to do something that signified this sense of unity. So, I thought about festivities and celebrations, and how people come together during these very brief moments.” The result is a combination of types of garments and materials, stripped-down of their original meaning and re-integrated into a different, more fashionable, context. In this way, a precious textile in Thai culture such as silk, can be liberated from its original “stiffness”; its fit relaxed and finally matched with other materials, like the jersey of football t-shirts. “While living in Thailand, I had never really connected with this material, but since moving to Paris I felt like I could experiment more with silk just by changing its attitude.”

References are never obvious or easy to detect. They always imply some kind of repurposing, of warping the perception of those objects, adding to simple fits “a bit of weirdness from Thailand ”. Take, for example, those football t-shirts, bought in the streets of Bangkok and adorned with thread decorations typical of police and military uniforms. Or the Buddhist amulets, used in past collections as jewellery and now transformed into real garments. These religious charms usually contain a small Buddha and vary in shape depending on the temples they belong to. “Even within religious objects there is a sense of division. So, I gathered many empty frames and filled them with colour instead, to create a different connection between them and shift them out of their worship function.” In “United” the amulets are tied together with a polyester rope to create a stripey vest, with clear references to sportswear. From symbols of power and religious paraphernalia, these objects are transformed into common garments and accessories. It’s not a downgrade though; it’s a matter of “elevating these almost discarded t-shirts” to a new use.

“The inspiration comes from how Thai construction workers wear different hats together. So, they have one layer to protect their faces from the sun, one from the dust, and one to protect the skull.” – Rukpong Raimaturapong

The street and the working class remain, after all, Rukpong’s main source of inspiration. The designer grew up in the northern region of Khon Kaen and eventually moved to Bangkok to study Graphic Design at Chulalongkorn University.  Along the streets of the city, he could observe all sorts of people, who, “like archetypes” had their own peculiar ways of wearing and styling things. Many ideas for his collections were conceived in those moments of flânerie. “Like this hat!” Rukpong places in front of the camera and gently puts on a yellow, bell-shaped headpiece, enveloped in a cascade of amulets, in the same colour. The hat is part of a capsule worth the prize 19M des Métiers d’Art de Chanel, and was designed in collaboration with the millinery French house Maison Michel. Together with the creative director Priscilla Royer, they created 13 interchangeable hats that can be assembled in different ways, mixing shapes and materials. “The inspiration comes from how Thai construction workers wear different hats together. So, they have one layer to protect their faces from the sun, one from the dust, and one to protect the skull.”

Studying and working as a graphic designer has undoubtedly influenced his mainly visual approach to fashion design, hence the shapes and colours of “United”. While his conception of garments at early stages might be two-dimensional, Rukpong does not necessarily consider this a limitation. “Sometimes this affects the way something is constructed. But once it’s on the body, it turns out to be way better than I expected.” When he works with his pattern makers and tailors, he finds himself asking “stupid questions”, which nonetheless give life to new exciting ways of creating, shifting from the flatness of his designs to a real silhouette.

“If cultures collide you are always in front of something new.” – Rukpong Raimaturapong

While graphic design has always thoroughly informed his work, since moving to Paris, Rukpong has been developing new ways of narrating his culture. For the promotion of his last collection, he pushed the idea of “feeling united” even further, well beyond the usual lookbook, working together with artists and new media. There are lifelike paintings of his looks, first photographed in France and then sent to a Thai artist, Phongphan, to be transposed into canvas. And still-life compositions, where pieces of fabrics in vibrant colours are made interact with objects and props.  “I consider my culture very limited, in a way. Not so many people would understand it and I think it’s also the beauty of it. But it’s my job to look for these visual artists and see how they can interpret my story. It’s like merging two know-hows; if cultures collide you are always in front of something new.”

“I consider myself a graphic designer, but sometimes I ask myself: ‘Why do I keep doing fashion?’ And I think that’s because I enjoy the fact that I can control everything, from the fabrics to the image.” – Rukpong Raimaturapong

In the fluid work of this multimedia artist, fashion becomes a territory where disciplines such as photography, painting, video art, and graphic design not only coexist but also intersect. It all started when he decided to take part in a fashion competition “just for fun” and hasn’t stopped since. “Graphic design and fashion have always been these two parallel lines. I consider myself a graphic designer, but sometimes I ask myself: ‘Why do I keep doing fashion?’ And I think that’s because I enjoy the fact that I can control everything, from the fabrics to the image. It’s like the outlet from my full-time job at Celine, where I have full control.” Despite the time issues of managing a production mainly based in Thailand while being in Paris, this sense of control is precisely what Rukpong likes the most, even about the fashion show. In a short video on his Instagram, he summarised the development of his last collection, from the pictures of Bangkok to the show in Hyères. “Gimme Love” by Joji plays in the background and reaches its outro while the models in their silky bright looks glide along the catwalk. Rukpong, his friends, and collaborators are captured smiling. But what does a fashion show mean to a multimedia artist, who’s used to displaying his work in many other ways? “It’s the ultimate joy. For me it’s very important to choose the song, the looks, and the models. Every moment is planned ahead and follows a precise order. I’m happy when I see that coming to life.”

“I think it’s my duty to extend the life of Thai silk. If what I’m doing is conceptual but works commercially, I can also offer new opportunities to the people I work with.” – Rukpong Raimaturapong

The designer works “only for creative purposes” and at its own pace.  However, although the brand, for now, exists mainly in a conceptual context, winning the prize assigned by Chanel and Le19M has allowed him to bring the project to a higher level, developing new techniques with the support of the fashion houses involved in the award. This collection is also the first one with wearable pieces; a way for Rukpong to keep the local production alive. “I think it’s my duty to extend the life of Thai silk. If what I’m doing is conceptual but works commercially, I can also offer new opportunities to the people I work with.”