Meet Thailand's first designer to customise jeans using selvedge Japanese denim

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Remarkable Living

Meet Thailand's first designer to customise jeans using selvedge Japanese denim

In a city filled with dozens of tailors, Vitchapong Hutasuwan (aka Boom) is etching a niche for himself by beingness the offset in Bangkok to custom-brand jeans with selvedge denim.

05 January 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 21 May 2022 02:51PM)

Amidst Siam Square's warren of indie manner boutiques and youth-oriented beauty emporia, Selvedgework stands out with its bespoke denim services that has built a fan following of well-heeled hipsters and style mavens.

At the forefront of this hip label is denim connoisseur, Vitchapong "Blast" Hutasuwan, a young Thai designer whose parents have been running a denim factory for the last 30 years.

"Equally a kid, I watched my parents work with different types of denim fabrics and designs. I was really living and animate jeans. When I slept, I could hear sewing machines. I grew up with the mindset that jeans would always exist in my life," he remarked.

In a city filled with dozens of tailors, Vitchapong Hutasuwan (aka Smash) is carving a niche for himself by being the first in Bangkok to custom-make jeans with selvedge denim.

In college, Boom had the idea of moving into retail to sell selvedge jeans. Selvedge is the tightly woven band on the edge of denim which prevents it from unravelling, a detail visible only when jeans are folded at the cuff.

"As a child, I loved going into section stores. I told myself that 1 day I want to open up a shop of my own," he recalled.

Smash's parents, even so, were not neat to start another business and preferred for him to choose a different career path, like his siblings, who were in sales and engineering science.

Vitchapong Hutasuwan (aka Boom) started Selvedgework in 2022 as an online retail store offering bespoke jeans. (Photograph: Freestate Productions)

"I recall my family saw me as a kid. It's not that they didn't support me, but they simply said it'southward non the right fourth dimension withal because I didn't have the experience. But I was a dreamer and Selvedgework was in my caput 24 hours a day, for many years!" he exclaimed.

In 2012, 20-yr-old Nail started Selvedgework, an online retail store offer bespoke jeans. Two years later, he opened his first physical store at Siam Square. Co-ordinate to him, there were no other shops offering custom-made jeans or sold premium Thai jeans.

2 years after, Boom opened his get-go concrete store at Siam Foursquare. (Photo: Freestate Productions)

"I recollect denim can be considered a luxury item. Luxury represents skillful quality, like going into every item of the product and actually putting your heart and soul into it," he attested.

Not long later, Elle Men Thailand listed Selvedgework every bit i of the best denim brands in 2022 and 2022 – a sign that Boom'south risky undertaking was paying off. "The dream is for people to actually honey it and see the quality of the craftsmanship, and appreciate information technology."

As y'all enter his workshop-styled studio, you lot're greeted past industrial interiors from buffed cement floors to hardwood panels, white brick walls, leather sofas and black metal accents. Forth the walls, you'll find bales of selvedge denim and a wide pick of buttons and add together-ons similar tailored waistbands, leather patches, pocket linings, and more.

Owning a pair of jeans from Selvedgework is akin to possessing a slice of fine art. The intricate procedure involved in its creation is remarkably painstaking. Showtime, you select the fabric: Denim from Japan's Kaihara and Kurabo mills – some of the best mills in the world. Then, you get to select your preferred thread colours, pocket linings, buttons and fit. Even the smallest details like leather patches and your initials can be added on – annihilation to make the jeans stand out in the crowd.

"The reason I create custom-made jeans is because I desire people to express themselves and not just follow trends. If they like pinkish-coloured thread, why not?" Smash enthused.

These days, Boom is applying paint to jeans and creating literal works of art on fabric. "I love art and I love jeans. So I fused my ii loves, and will be offering customers the pick to paint their jeans," said Boom, who most recently hand-painted a sample collection featuring the works of Andy Warhol.

Adapted from the series Remarkable Living. Watch total episodes on CNA, every Sun at 8.30pm.

Meet Thailand's first designer to customise jeans using selvedge Japanese denim

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