Pattraporn Chaveesak: “IFA Paris helped me in preparing to conquer the real fashion world!”
Now based in Paris, Bangkok born creator, illustrator, graphic fashion designer Pattraporn Chaveesak joined the IFA Paris Bachelor in Fashion Marketing!
Michel Temman: First, could you introduce yourself, tell us more about who you are? Where are you from in Thailand?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: I am a young woman who moved to Paris not so long ago! I’m from Bangkok and I lived there until I was 16. Then I earned a scholarship to be an exchange student in Tucuman, in the Northern part of Argentina. I was studying at Escuela Normal – but I was sick back then: too worried about my weight since I loved the Argentinian food! I was bulimic and was treated by my loving family and a great doctor, Dr Alejo.
Pattraporn Chaveesak
I then moved to the capital Buenos Aires. This is actually how I became “me” today. I was born with multiple styles, mostly inspired by vintage. My friends worldwide call me “Patricia” (my Spanish name) or “Jarinpat” (my Instagram username). In Buenos Aires, I had such a lovely fashionista host sister. I loved her style and everything she was wearing. She showed me how to look super glamorous without using brands and expensive stuff, and it changed the way I see and think about fashion. In Buenos Aires I attended a public school called Escuela Técnica Raggio, majoring in faculty clothing industry (Industria de la Indumentaria). This is how I found my true passion and how I learned a lot about fashion design. It helped so much for my studies at IFA Paris.
M.T.: When and how did you start drawing, fashion design and graphic design? When did you discover your talent?
Pattraporn Chaveesak
Pattraporn Chaveesak: Once I lost my camera in Argentina. As I’m a person who love memories and especially pictures, I was wondering how I could capture my moments without a camera. Finally, I ended up drawing everything I could see and it really helped me to develop my artistic and drawing skills. This is why I’m currently a freelance graphic designer. I do portrait illustrations, fashion sketches, technical drawings, magazine layout design, editorials, Photoshop, PowerPoint templates and also web design.
M.T.: Who are your clients?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: I can’t list them all but for works such as fashion sketches, technical drawings and editorials, I usually do it for fashion designer students worldwide – you can check out my portfolio at patricia-studio.com I’m not so good at speaking, so I make everything with my work very visual. My Instagram is my platform to communicate with people internationally. Furthermore, I’d also love to tell you about my very first brand: Patricia Studio. I made my first collection called “L’Essentiel” reflecting my own personality and style, which I think is elegant, sophisticated, feminine, wild, fun yet sensual. I see Patricia Studio as my very collective closet! It’s a great opportunity to allow myself in getting closer to achieving my dream.
Pattraporn Chaveesak
M.T.: How and why did you decide to join IFA Paris to study fashion? What do you study there and how valuable it is?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: Honestly, I just googled and saw IFA Paris was always at the top of the search results! First I thought that this school might cost so much. But fortunately, I mentioned the name of the academy to my father. He was so excited about it, since this school had a partnership with PIM (Panyapiwat Institute of Management) which belongs to the Thai company CPALL and that is where my father works! Also, my father’s friend’s daughter went to IFA Paris for a semester and she had a very good experience. And I was right: at IFA Paris we have so many high profile professors that are very successful in the international fashion field. IFA Paris has different types of teachers and their teaching method is definitely different.
Pattraporn Chaveesak
Some are taking us out to visit museums and do more activities, works like painting, trends studies, garment colorants, tech packs, but there are also typical academic readings and presentations as well.
And the last one: the “bitter-sweet type” professor, who always gives so much homework and requires very serious performance and development each time – this is the type I love the most, as it really develops my work into a professional level. IFA Paris taught me how to work in a team. We sometimes work individually but it it’s mostly teamwork. We face problems when it comes to work among different people coming from different places, cultures and mind-sets. At first I had some problems but then I started to understand and learned to adjust myself with the environment. It helped me in preparing to conquer the real fashion world. When it comes to valuable or not? I have nothing to say but it’s so much more than that. I was 18 years old when arriving in France, dealing with everything by myself – from finding apartments to now launching my own brand. And I found my best friend here… studying at IFA Paris enabled me to meet Kesi Sheqeri: we do everything together, we grow up together, helping each other through everything.
Pattraporn Chaveesak
School and studies gave us so many headaches, but every time I realized that I met my best friend here, it makes me love this school so much more. Honestly I can talk about my good and bad experiences at IFA during my 3 years of the Bachelor Fashion Marketing program – and the bad experiences finally turned into memorable memories and lessons.
M.T.: Can you describe a typical day at IFA Paris?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: It’s different each day at IFA Paris depending on the season, but let’s pick up a full day of my timetable back then at IFA Paris. The class starts at 9am and we’re studying until 1pm. At 9am the school is quiet and around 10am it becomes more crowded. Each class has only approximately 20 to 25 students, which is really nice. There I am always sitting in the front row in order to hear all of the professor’s words. Also, every school day at IFA Paris is like my runway: not a day goes by without my hair on fleek and make up on point. How I look is very important to me!
Pattraporn Chaveesak
And IFA Paris is a place where I can wear clothes I designed during the wrong season, or do a “fashion faux pas” without any judgement – I feel like walking in a work place where we’re all professional yet friendly. I don’t join cigarette breaks, so my friends and I do photoshoots. I am social media addicted, I always post everything I do on my Instagram. During lunch, we mostly eat small things from the supermarket nearby and sit together preparing a presentation or working on some school projects. We also listen to music or discuss about current society situations. Lately, I also often help others in the computer lab and I love it, I like to help if I can. Back to the afternoon class, we watch each other presenting our projects. The heart races every time when it comes to the presentation, we’re all expecting good grades. We stay until the class ends, then sometimes we have to stay for the team assignment or questions, then I’m on the run to home…
M.T.: When did you know that you wanted to work in the fashion and luxury fields?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: I knew that I wanted to work in the fashion and luxury fields ever since I started to buy and consume fashion and luxury products myself, I found it is charming that a t-shirt can cost 500 Euros.
Pattraporn Chaveesak
I found that marketing is art, but some might say it’s common sense. To me, it’s an art of alluring people to make them purchase. I admit it: I love money, I love business, I started my own business even before joining IFA Paris – in my opinion there’s no fashion without business involved. I also love communication as I like explaining my opinion and vision about my work. I find it interesting to persuade someone to do something, to analyze the situation and be the first mover or the first follower. It’s great to have personality. In fact, only few brands define their personality clearly enough!
M.T.: What about the fashion and luxury scenes in your country? Where do you see the future of fashion in Thailand?
Pattraporn Chaveesak: I might say that I’ve seen a lot of fashion opportunities in my country for the last 10 years or so. I’ve partnered in both the domestic and the international fashion industry. Day by day there are more and more designers who give value to the fashion industry in Thailand – as seen during the last Bangkok International Fashion Week from March 21st to 25th 2018. The fact is, we’re all trying to create a great image for Thai designer brands. As far as I can see, this recent event is a significant step in strengthening the Thai fashion industry to an international level!
For more information on the program Pattraporn pursued, please see Bachelor in Fashion Marketing
And make sure to check out her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarinpat