What inspired you to start your own brand, Venice W?
Venice: Clothing has made me ask so many questions—like, why do we need collars on a shirt? It is curious the more I think about it. I like the mystery of life and hope to understand mankind through creativity, and Venice W is my way of exploring that, starting with fashion. Clothes are the closest man-made things to our bodies—even though we are nature-made, we can’t survive without clothes the way animals or plants can, and it made me even more curious.
Venice W is being understood as a brand because we’re all used to living in a material world—I forget that sometimes too. But it is more like a fruit of a mind, with fashion being just one part of it.
What kind of lifestyle or message do you hope to convey to your audience through Venice W?
Venice: To think beyond what you see in front of you—for example, our eyes can only perceive 0.0035% of reality, there are so many things we don’t know and we don’t see. For some time now at Venice W, we’ve been questioning whether clothes can be seen as living beings. Over time, we’ve realized that inanimate objects, like clothes, only come to life through the person who wears them. It’s always been one's perception that holds the power to create living energy.
Venice W is slowly entering a new spiritual era. If layers of clothes represent the outer expression of the body in our 3D world, then what about the invisible aura we wear around us? What are we layering on the inside? After all, we want our audience to feel good and have a clothes-body-mind-spirit balance!
Your brand’s photoshoots often blend everyday scenes and characters. Where do you usually find inspiration for your shoots?
Venice: Image-making is a holistic process for Venice W. We don’t take photos just for the sake of fashion—our concepts evolve throughout the year.
For example, SS24 ‘Hangtag Hub’ story was set in a WiFi village, while the lookbook images were inspired by a meme comparing what birds see versus what humans see. Humans perceive the rainbow spectrum, while birds can see UV colors. That led us to design the entire collection in two colorways—one representing human vision and the other, bird vision—while the silhouettes remained the same, the fun and challenging part was that we had 2 models doing the same poses for it.
And for AW24 ‘Family Tree’, the lookbook reimagined traditional family portrait photography, but uncanny—there was only one model for the entire shoot, much like how one collection grows into the next, creating an ongoing timeline, interconnected narrative.
How would you describe Venice W in three words?
Venice: Paper, rock, sisters!
How have your Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds influenced your designs or your brand’s philosophy?
Venice: Spending nearly equal time in both the East and the West has shaped my view that designing clothes for humans is an act of unity—one that transcends cultural differences. We all share the same human form: one head, two eyes, two arms, two legs, one waist. At the same time, other living species are cultivating Venice W, such as the animal kingdom, stone circles, tree forests, and leaf piles. In a material-driven world, staying connected to other nature forms is essential!
Can you tell us about your team—what’s the atmosphere like, where are they from, and how do you collaborate?
Venice: Our London team is small. Since mid-2024, it’s been me—Venice, from Bangkok—Dongyi, a CSM Womenswear graduate from Tianjin, and our intern Lily, who’s doing her placement year. We work together like friends hanging out. Our days flow between designing, laughing, having lunch, and sometimes, organizing stock at Laundry Mountain. We’ve also started meditation breaks for a bit now—I have faith in it!
Designing usually starts in a small place, my sketchbook with a story or question, evolving through daily conversations. Everyone’s personality and taste always influence the design outcome. Our Thailand team is just one person—my mom, Maliwan. She calls herself the warehouse manager, but really, Venice W’s style roots from her DNA!
What are some challenges you've faced while building your brand?
Venice: Multi-tasking and meeting deadlines are the big challenges. Balancing creative time and admin time is not easy too. Sometimes it feels like I’m just a kid playing merchant in kindergarten. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone for supporting Venice W.
Do you have any advice for our readers who are looking to start their own brand?
Venice: I truly believe the world needs more independent brands, and less of the fast fashion and luxury giants. Think of the sea ecosystem—it healthily functions because of the balance between various organisms, like different types of fish and corals. If it’s mostly sharks, the water becomes lifeless and uninteresting. So, keep hatching your ideas. See you in the underwater world.
keep hatching your ideas
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