A PRINCESS IN PARIS: Sirivannavari, the high-end label founded by Thai princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, is landing at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann for a spring pop-up.
The 320-square-foot space, located on the second floor of the Parisian department store’s main building, opened Wednesday and runs through May 27.
It offers the brand’s spring 2025 ready-to-wear, which takes its cues from the Italian Renaissance and luminaries such as Michelangelo and Botticelli for its sinuous curves, graphic lines and filmy transparencies. Complementing these looks are accessories ranging from handbags to footwear.
For the Thai royal, who holds a masters’ degree in design from L’École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, now the Institut Français de la Mode, opening a pop-up in Paris is a milestone she’s long been dreaming of.
Although the brand was established in 2005 and made its first international foray with a pop-up at La Rinascente in 2016, it was four years ago that Nariratana truly put Paris in her sights.
“It is the Olympics for fashion and its biggest [arena] also,” she told WWD in an exclusive interview. “Like sports, we had to train up for this.”
Sirivannavari Nariratana
Punsiri Siriwetchapun / Courtesy Sirivannavari
The first order of business for the brand was bolstering its women’s and menswear repertoire, developing two full-fledged collections a year for each. For fall 2023, it staged an intimate presentation during Paris Fashion Week, showcasing them alongside a compact offering of leather goods, eyewear and swimwear styles.
While Nariratana said she “puts the princess cap away” when working on the brand as its creative director and prefers the resulting designs do the talking, she’s keenly aware of her status and the responsibilities that come with it.
Teaching is key for the Thai royal, who takes particular pride in sharing knowledge with classes ranging from first year of university to Ph.D. levels. In fact, “I prefer being called ‘Professor’ than princess,” she said.
Like her grandmother, Queen Mother Sirikit, whose royal patronage focused on the preservation of the country’s silk and traditional handwoven textiles, Nariratana too intends to leverage her position as a royal — and the Sirivannavari brand — to pave the way.
“I told my team [that] we bring all this knowledge from Europe but don’t forget we have Thai knowledge also,” she said. Thai silk, in particular, always appears in each collection, while traditional elements are infused as discreet touches such as draping.
More experimental directions also come into play, such as the use of ocean plastic, a blight Nariratana is keenly aware of as a diver.
It’s a balance that has worked well for the brand.
Sales are in the high seven-figure range in euros and the company expects to grow 7 percent this year. It has caught the eye of a younger demographic and international clients are in the majority.
Headcount sits around 90, with a core design team of seven. That’s without counting the embroidery department, which is connected to a school Nariratana dubbed “a mini Lesage” with a strong focus on transmission.
In Bangkok, the brand currently has two stores, in the Siam Paragon shopping complex and the travel retail hub King Power Rangnam, a downtown destination for duty-free shopping.
Plans for a third address in Emporium, a luxury mall in the Khlong Toei district, are underway.
Meanwhile, the Thai royal said a high jewelry line was in the works, slated to be unveiled in 2026. She is also weighing up an expansion into hospitality, with perhaps a café.
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