Since the agreement to form an integrated ASEAN Economic Community into single market, Malaysia, The Philippines, 
Singapore, Thailand and lastly Indonesia have been attempting to position themselves as the ASEAN Fashion Hub capital. Today, none of them have yet succeeded in pulling ahead. It does, however, look as if there are other very strong competitors that need to be considered as well, who are not within the ASEAN community. Yes, we are talking about China and South Korea.

1. C A N V A S S C O 1

2. ASEAN
FASHION HUB
Since the agreement to form an
integrated ASEAN Economic
Community into single market,
Malaysia, The Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and lastly
Indonesia have been attempting
to position themselves as the
ASEAN Fashion Hub capital.
Today, none of them have yet
succeeded in pulling ahead. It
does, however, look as if there are
other very strong competitors
that need to be considered as
well, who are not within the
ASEAN community. Yes, we are
talking about China and South
Korea.
Singapore is positioned as the
shopping destination for high-end
fashion brands. However, this
position has become weak as
these brands are expanding their
market coverage throughout Asia.
Indonesia and Malaysia are both
striving to be the Muslim fashion
hub, targeting about 40% of the
A S E A N C o m m u n i t y , w i t h
majorities only in Indonesia,
Brunai and Malaysia.
The Philippines, though they have
been developing a local fashion
industry, are struggling to expand
into the global market due to
their isolated geographical
location, which makes its difficult
for trade and logistics.
Then Thailand, the country with
borders connecting them to the
last frontier markets in South
East Asia; Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Myanmar and Vietnam. It s one
of the World s tourist hotspots
and the second largest economy
in ASEAN. Though the country
has been losing cost
competitiveness for it s textile
industry, as a result of rising labor
costs, this country has
strengthened it s local fashion
industry by developing full cycle
value chains for its domestic
market and is now emerging as a
sourcing destination for fashion
products.
THAILAND FASHION
INDUSTRY
In Thailand, the fashion industry
accounts for approximately 2
percent of total GDP. There are
more than 4,000 companies and
more than one million people
employed within the industry.
With the aim of transforming
Thailand into Southeast Asia s
fashion capital, the Textile
Institute is investing $9.7 million
to develop the local textile and
garment industry from 2012 to
2016.
For Thailand, fashion is not only
about runway or high-end flagship
stores; in almost every corner of
a city you can find small shops
selling fashion clothes and
accessories along the roadside.
Small retail markets are located
near high-rise office buildings
where office girls go out for food
and also shop for fashion items
during lunch time.
It s also not expensive to set up a
small fashion trading business in
Thailand. Many sellers are
individual entrepreneurs with no
formal company registration, they
can simply buy fashion products
from wholesalers, look for a good
l o c a t i o n a n d s e t u p t h e i r
temporary shops. The start-up
costs can be as low as $1,000.
Thais are very fashion conscious
which make for a demanding
© C a n v a s s c o 2

3. home market. Furthermore,
Thailand is one of the most
popular tourist destinations and
as much as 50% of the earnings
from Thailand's fashion houses
come from tourists, who have
been surprised by the Thai
f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y w i t h i t s
abundance and small fashion
shops.
FASHION INDUSTRY
VALUE CHAIN
High fashion brands are available
at Siam Paragon, Emporium, and
Central World. And recently, The
Mall Group has announced a huge
investment worth over $20 billion
into the development of six high-
end shopping mall projects in
Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Huahin
and Chiang Mai.
Beside high-end fashion shopping
malls, mid-to-high end local
fashion brands are available at
Siam Center and other
department stores.
Street-style local designer shops
can be found at Jatujak Market.
Wholesale fashion shops are
clustered in Pratunum area.
For local fashion industry, fashion
products are locally made by
SMEs who have now begun to
focus on better production,
design and marketing in order to
stay competitive amid the flux of
cheap products from China.
Thailand is one of the strongest
competitors in the textile sector
in ASEAN and 70 to 80 percent
of the materials are locally
sourced, with an exception of
cotton which is 100% imported.
AEC OPPORTUNITY
OR THREAT?
Under the AEC, import duties on
textiles and garments were
eliminated in 2008. This opens up
the way for Thailand to move
forward as the ASEAN Fashion
hub, due to it s strategic location
and open culture for fashion.
The tariff elimination has created
a great potential for Thailand to
become a regional supplier of
fashion products. This is because
of a strong local demand for
fashion products as well as a
supply chain for fashion related
industries such as textiles,
garments, gems and jewelry.
The media industry also plays an
important role in supporting
Thailand s fashion industry.
Thailand TV s drama, movies and
music are well received by their
neighboring countries.
Similar to the K-POP industry
that s promoting Korean culture
which includes food, fashion and
tourism, Thailand has been
following the same path but it s
purely driven by the private
sector, unlike the K-POP industry
that s fully supported by the
government.
© C a n v a s s c o 3
FASHION INDUSTRY VALUE CHAIN
E L E M E N T S
K E Y
P L AY E R S
S U P P O R T
S E R V I C E S
CREATION PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION CONSUMPTION
‣ Designer
‣ Style-list
‣ Entrepreneur
‣ Marketer
‣ Market
researcher
and trend
analysis
‣ Textile,
garment and
jewellery and
gem industry
from spinning
to finishing
‣ Raw material
suppliers
‣ Cut & saw
clothing
manufacturer
‣ Exporter
‣ Wholesaler/
Retailer
‣ Marketer/Ad
agency
‣ Online shops
‣ Speciality
store
‣ Fashion
Agency/
Magazine
‣ Customer/
Buyer
‣ Fashion show
‣ Magazine
‣ Fashionista/
Trend setter
‣ Fashion blog
‣ Online media /
Social media
FINANCIAL FUNDS / EDUCATION - FASHION DESIGN INSTITUTION

4. THE SUCCESS OF
THE PLATINUM
FASHION MALL
Take a look at the largest
wholesale & retail fashion mall in
Thailand , The Platinum Fashion
Mall, this mall consists of 7 floors
of whole sale space with over
40,000 visitors per day on
weekdays and up to 60,000
visitors during weekends.
The Platinum Fashion Mall does
not only offers fashion clothes
and accessories but also their
have all kind of fashion product
for everyone. About 60 percent
of the whole customer are local
shoppers and 40 percent are
foreign shoppers especially those
who come from Singapore,
Malaysia, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Africa and Europe, etc.
The Platinum is a located in
Pratunum, Bangkok which is a
strategic location of Thailand s
wholesale fashion businesses .
Founded in 2005, The Platinum
Fashion Mall features a wholesale
and retail shopping mall concept
and has become one stop
shopping destination for both
locals and tourists alike.
This means all facilities would
have air conditioning, safety
structures, parking spaces and
toilets, similar to a modern retail
complex. The Platinum supports
many space for wholesale
shoppers, other features such as
w a r e h o u s e s p a c e s , c a r g o
services, bank services and
freight elevators. These were truly
vast blue ocean spaces that
n o b o d y c l a i m e d f o r s u c h
positioning until now.!
Today, its occupancy rate is
100%. It is the first wholesale mall
in ASEAN with a cluster of over
2,500 wholesale fashion clothes
and accessories shops.
!
AEC STRATEGY:
We had a pleasant discussion
with the marketing team from
The Platinum Fashion Mall, led by
Mr.Sirichai Praphanturakit, the
Executive Vice President -
Property Management of Building
Operations regarding their
strategy response to AEC
integration in 2015. It's an
opportunity for not only the
Platinum Fashion Mall to be the
whole sale fashion hub in ASEAN
but also shop owners to expand
their customer base especially to
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
Thai fashion is very similar to
those Indo-china markets where
consumers are also influenced by
Thai TV shows and TV drama
said Mr. Sirichai when asked
whether AEC is an opportunity or
threat.
The strategy for AEC is to help
shop owners be competitive at a
regional level. First, is to focus on
cost and quality. The Platinum
works closely with the Thai Textile
Manufacturing Association to
create a program to help guide
shop owners about product
development process to reduce
operational costs and shift their
focus on fashion design for
© C a n v a s s c o 4
FA S H I O N C L O T H S H O P S AT
T H E P L AT I N U M FA S H I O N M A L L
J E A N S C L O T H S H O P AT T H E
P L AT I N U M FA S H I O N M A L L

5. competitiveness and
sustainability.
Second, is to accommodate
wholesale shoppers with credit
card payment options. They have
worked with VISA and with the
leading banks in Thailand, to
organize training sessions to
explain benefits for accepting
credit card payments to shop
owners. Recently they also
cooperated with Kasikorn Bank to
promote China Union Pay Card,
the largest credit card network in
China. Today about 20% of shops
accept credit card.
Third, is to develop an online
shopping channel. The Platinum
provides technical support to all
shops to create their own web
pages under
www.platinumfashionmall.com and
support them to create their own
online store which register under
www.thaitrade.com
the e-Commerce platform under
the Department of International
Trade Promotion, to expand
market for Thai product and
services, specifically to target
foreign buyers.
!
THE CHALLENGES
We have to work closely with a
potential group of shop owners to
develop new programs, once it
shows the benefits, all other
shops shall follow
said Mr. Sirichai.
To be the ASEAN Fashion Hub,
it's a vital challenge for local Small
and Medium Enterprizes to
develop their attractiveness. One-
shop owners can't do this alone;
there must be a force driven by
the market leader throughout the
value chains.
© C a n v a s s c o 5
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