Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market

New York, January 23, 2008 -- On a recent trip through Asia, I visited the markets in Beijing, Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok and Hong Kong.  Each market bigger than the last and each filled with cultural knickknacks and oddball gifts.  In each city our guides told us that if they make it, you can find it at the market which, it turns out, is right on the money.

We saw everything from clocks and monkey figurines in Beijing, doggy kimonos and linen napkins in Hong Kong to mini altars and birdcages in Hanoi.  Each market was fascinating in its own way and full of history and culture.  I bought a few things here and there, but it wasn’t until I got to Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market that I’d truly reached my own market nirvana.

As far as the eye could see, there were young Thai designers peddling their latest wares and creating new designs right in front of you.  Young men and women in booth after booth, row after row each with distinct takes on fashion.  I first came to a booth full of cute and flowy sundresses, each with labels like Chloe, Matthew Williamson and even Dior.  But these weren’t knock-offs; an entrepreneurial designer had found a way to charge more for her designs than the others by attaching a more famous name to them.  These dresses maxed out at US $60, so if this was the most expensive booth of the day, I could handle it.

As I made my way down the first of the 3 clothing aisles that seemed never-ending, I tucked into booths and checked their stock.  There were jersey draped dresses, cotton poplin sack dresses, tailored sheaths and mod minis.  I came across a booth called Chipmunk where I found a blue and white striped cotton tank dress with a drop waist and brown cinched tie.  Coming from America and being a storeowner where the price on the tag is non-negotiable, bargaining didn’t come naturally, especially when the prices were about $20.  But my husband and I worked out a little script and we came away each time getting a few dollars off the original price.

My last, but favorite booth of the day was The KISS Principle.  I met a young girl name Toey who has been designing for about a year, though you’d peg her designs as much more mature.  She told me that she’s applied to Parsons for the fall and hopes to come to New York to study design.  But for now, Toey’s building her portfolio and every weekend she opens her booth, debuting new designs every Saturday.  Sophisticated sheaths come in black with neutral tones; some had crimson accents, others with ivory.  There was not a single dress in all of her 20 styles that I did not want to take home.  I settled on one since they were a little short for my tall frame (I’m 5’4”, but tall by Thailand’s standards) and took Toey’s card.  We’ve been emailing ever since and Mick Margo hopes to be carrying the KISS Principle this summer so you, too, can have a little taste of the Bangkok weekend market.  –Cary Weekes