Hirankrit Pattaraboriboonkul designed that tuk-tuk costume for Miss Thailand Universe, the dress that garnered praise, flak and one declaration from a hater that he'd eat dog poo if it won awards. Also working as a freelance costume designer on the side, Hirankrit's entry was one of the 365 to be submitted to the Creative Thai contest held by Miss Universe Thailand.
Last week, the 35-year-old official from the Ministry of Culture was in Las Vegas himself to cheer for Miss Thailand and be on hand in case any glitches came up. Now back in Thailand, Hirankrit shared with Life his thoughts on his design which won Best National Costume in Miss Universe 2015.
Hirankrit Pattaraboriboonkul.
What is Thainess for you and what was the process for it to become your design?
For me, Thainess can be categorised into three groups: traditional Thai, folk Thai and contemporary Thai. The outfit "Tuk Tuk Thailand" draws from contemporary Thai and pop culture. First, I started out with finding inspiration which would become my concept for designing. I then made a sketch and sent in my illustration to the contest called "Creative Thai". My work was among the eight finalists and after each contestant presented their work to the judges, mine was selected. The actual production of the outfit was split into two main parts. The clothing part was made by the tailors at Surface, while the tuk-tuk body was produced by Royal Motor Design. We got some support and knowledge about the parts from Expertise Tuk Tuk Factory. This year was also special because we got funds from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture.
How did the tuk-tuk inspiration come about?
I'm personally attached to the Rattanakosin Island area since my days of studying at Thammasat University at Tha Prachan. After I graduated from a fashion school in Italy, I taught fashion design at the faculty of decorative arts at Silpakorn and now I'm studying for my master's degree at Silpakorn too. I've always been around tuk-tuks and I think it's iconic and something which foreigners recognise instantly as Thai.
There's both positive and negative feedback about your design. How do you feel about that and deal with it?
It's normal [to have bad feedback] so I was quite passive about it, although I do admit I wavered a bit when I first heard. I was lucky that I could let it go quickly. I just dealt with it by doing my job consciously and sensibly so my work would come out as good as it can be.
What was the biggest challenge in creating the costume?
Managing time, money and people because the outfit needed many different people to create it. I also had to hand-carry the battery for the outfit to the US myself because we realised later that shipping it with the costume required many documents and authorisation which we couldn't get done in time.
Which direction would you like to see Thai national costume head in the future?
Anything's possible, whether it be traditional Thai, folk Thai or contemporary Thai, but it should have a clarity where you see it and know immediately that it represents Thailand. Think about what foreigners see when they see Thai culture, because some inspiration and ideas for the outfits are too particular and niche that foreigners don't understand it. The boxing outfit which once got an award too is great because it has a clear identity.
Which other countries do you think had good outfits and why?
Personally, I thought there were five potential winners. Austria, dressed as Conchita Wurst to display gender equality; Curaçao, for the painted blue face to represent the colours of the Caribbean Sea; Myanmar, as a long-necked Karen in a golden dress holding a large guitar; Spain, dressed as an ancient warrior, with one side of make-up as a woman the other a man; and Thailand. I chose them mostly from the creativity factor. There were a couple of beautiful carnival-style outfits from countries from Latin America too, but I feel that they were all similar and same old same old.
