New year sneak peek: fashion

As Oscar Wilde said, "You can never be overdressed or overeducated", and the number of new luxury retail stores to be opened in 2013 prove that Thai people can never have enough apparel choices, whether or not that makes them overdressed.

After recently premiering its ‘‘new look’’ boutique at Emporium earlier in 2012, Christian Dior will finally arrive at Siam Paragon.

Prada’s sister line has been a fashionista’s favourite and from next year, local fans can shop for Miu Miu in its first Thailand store, which will open at Siam Paragon.

In terms of retail space, January will mark the reopening of Siam Centre with a new look. It's the fourth renovation of the 38-year-old home to Thai fashion brands and the shopping mall aims to emerge not just as a retail space, but as a centre of ideas and digital lifestyles. New interiors that incorporate high-tech innovation from LED screens showcasing art and artistic collaborations will feature, as will interactive touch screens from where visitors can browse for hot items and new trends to help facilitate their shopping. Apart from familiar Thai brands such as Theatre, Painkiller, Kloset, Soda, Greyhound and Tango, Siam Centre will also welcome new brands that respond to the urban, fast-moving street culture such as Superdry and Love Moschino.

From the street style of Siam Centre in early 2013, we can also expect key changes and relocations all through the year for the luxury sector. As a long-standing home to fashion powerhouses, Gaysorn will undergo renovations which will see the expansion of some major labels. The duplex Louis Vuitton store may be expanded into a giant triplex empire. Burberry will expand, housing the much-loved Burberry Prorsum line as well as Burberry Kids. Of course, we'll be seeing some departures and certainly one of them will be Celine, which will relocate to Emporium in March.

Emporium will welcome a few more additions, and they are sure to get many fashionistas excited enough to turn their eyes back to this shopping mall.

Celine aside, there will be Tory Burch and two of the most desirable footwear brands in the universe - Christian Louboutin and Roger Vivier.

Central Embassy, which is set to open in December 2013, will be home to luxury stores such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Versace and Kenzo.

Surely, those exclusive footwear ranges opening stores here must mean luxury business in Thailand is very much on the rise.

Now, what about Siam Paragon? After a year of shape-shifting that culminated in the opening of Louis Vuitton, Siam Paragon continues to reign supreme as the destination for luxury shoppers and in 2013 it will house even more brands. First, there will be a Valentino store, which will stock tantalising accessories and a ready-to-wear line. We'll also have the long-awaited arrival of Miu Miu, Prada's sister line, as well as an expansion of Chanel's boutique. And even with Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada right there, it won't feel complete without the last piece of the luxury jigsaw - Christian Dior. And yes, Siam Paragon will finally have Christian Dior - probably in June - right in the space currently belonging to Versace.

Also, Siam Paragon will welcome the return of Giorgio Armani, which has been absent for a few seasons. Giorgio Armani will take the space currently occupied by Kenzo and Chloe.

So, where will Kenzo and Versace go? There's no need to worry, not in the least, since we're still expecting another big opening at the end of the year - Central Embassy! What we can tell you now is that Kenzo, purchased by Central Department Store, might find a new home at Central Embassy alongside other superbrands distributed by Central such as Gucci and Bottega Veneta and those distributed by CMG such as Ralph Lauren, Versace and its sister line Versus, Agnes B and Furla, for example. Apart from high-end luxury houses, Central Embassy will also delight younger shoppers with niche street brands such as Sandro and Mage.