Bangkok based Design Strategist, Trends Consultant, Storyteller and Sustainable Textile Designer!

     


Kick off this interview by saying hello!

Hi! My name is Kamon – which means ‘heart’ in Sanskrit; this is the root of all of my creation. I am a creative strategist by day and sustainable fashion and textile designer by night. I love connecting people through the craft of storytelling and making. 


Tell us what you get up to in the real world … 

Making time for mindfulness and art! I love being aware of myself, the world, and nature as I believe everything is interconnected and I enjoy expressing that through everything I do. At the moment, I’m spending my time creating a community of mindful consumers. I connect them with craftsmanship through Fashion Revolution Thailand’s network and my textile workshops. 

I am now working as a trend consultant and strategist, to help brands in Thailand create innovation that people truly care about. It may seem to conflict with my fashion and textile background but I truly think designers could design more than just beautiful things. For me, what got me here is my intention to solve problems bigger than my ego. This thinking is rooted within me after my personal journey to the rural villages of Thailand to find out about real inequality and exploitation that the artisans and informal workers are facing, throughout our society, especially in the fashion industry. From that point, I decided I wouldn’t just design things for myself, but consider other people and species that will be affected by my decisions. I submitted my Statement of Purpose to CIMB, the Malaysian bank, and was privileged enough to be supported to study at the Royal College of Art, with the goal to be back in South East Asia to create innovation that contributes to people’s lives. I am now back in Asia to help companies create brands, services, and hopefully systems that is beneficial to the world as a whole.

As a side project, I joined Fashion Revolution Thailand as a volunteer country coordinator to advocate and raise awareness of issues in the fast fashion industry – bringing people together to learn and create solutions together through events, film screenings, discussions and workshops. I’m also now working on my own small business that can bring more demand for beautiful, sustainable fashion ecosystem. 

Tell us about the place you call home…

Bangkok is my home. For its unpredictability and disordered chaos. It’s a love-hate relationship – for me it is the ‘realness’ of life – you can meet all kinds of walks of life in Bangkok and learn so much about diversity and differences because there’re such a big gap here. The uniqueness is our ‘creative frugality’ mindset,  I respect how adaptive and creative Thai’s can improvise to live in harmony with what they have. My Taiwanese friends used to say ‘your politics is so bad, but somehow you guys manage to keep smile and make jokes about it!’ 

Sometimes I wish Bangkok is more organised yet it is also very unique as it is. Thanks for teaching me to be patient, open-minded, and resilient – The most important skill set for our uncertain future ! 

If a friend was visiting, I would take them to the Old Town, China Town markets in Charoen Krung area and start walking in the small streets there. The clash of culture, old and new, past and future is all in weird juxtaposition. And of course, the hidden gems are all my favourite eating spots (even the ones you can’t find on Google Maps)!


If you could change anything about our society and world, what would you change?

It’d be making climate emergency, sustainability, and shared growth a priority for any decision maker. And we are all decison makers when we choose where we want to spend our money, time and energy on. 

I’d start from myself and people around me to redefine what success means, and become conscious individual, consumer, and citizen. Knowing ourselves is the first step, accepting what’s we’re missing, and rather than filling that emptiness with invaluable, immaterial things – we need to value time, moments, connections and relationships – that makes us happier and empowered to solve a bigger, more complex problems in the world. 


Kamon’s Links & Suggestions:

Instagram: @Kamonnart

Website: www.kamonn.art

Read: You’ve got to read Thich Nhat Hanh’s books because we need more love & kindness for ourselves and the world 

Listen: Listen to Wardrobe Crisis to make you feel inspired to make lifestyle changes

Watch: Watch The True Cost to inspire being informed about what you wear everyday

Subscribe: Sign up to The Future Thinkers podcast to keep up to date with progressive thoughts when technology, society and consciousness collide.
 

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