Fashion was never my dream career. I was an illustrator when a senior from my university, Silapakorn, told me to apply for the job at Greyhound.

I wasn’t sure if it would work out. I like fashion, yes, but designing fashion is another thing.

It took a couple of years for me to earn the respect of the sewers and tailors. I didn’t have any background in tailoring. I just had to stick to talking about what I was good at. I might not know how to sew difficult stitches, but they don’t know about art and color matching. We are all experts at what we do.

The fashion world is like any other world. I thought that the industry was full of people with big egos and bitchy designers. But then I realized that the fine art world I come from is also full of egos and competitive people. If you want to be somebody, you need to win at least one award. In fashion, you need to compete with other brands, other designers.

I didn’t care about the market until the economic crisis in 1997. That’s when I had to start combining art and marketing so that we could survive. Since then, you can see that Greyhound and Playhound clothes never feature complicated patterns—just detailing and prints. We just can’t do things like deconstruction or superfine tailoring.

Playhound is more me. I switched to the line in 2002. It’s my wildly experimental project where I can try combining techniques and styles to create different, or sometimes weird, looks.

I don’t wear my own designs. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect what I do, but I am just too shy to be in my own creations. I think other designers are like me, like McQueen or Marc Jacobs. The people are the ones who should like and wear my designs. That’ll make me happy.

I want to go where others don’t. I always look for things that are fun, that people don’t wear. That might explain why I like school uniforms, although I’m too old to wear one.

I like that people try to be naew [hip]. It makes society more fun. It’s fun seeing people trying to express individuality. They dress naew fashion, get naew hair, drive naew cars, ride naew motorcycles. And they end up all doing the same thing. Naew is now mass.

Stop wearing nude-colored underwear with outfits that aim to show some flesh. If you want to show something, show it.

Guys should stop wearing short socks, too. They’re vague. Either wear proper ones or just don’t wear them at all.

I prefer being a dog’s head to a lion’s tail. It’s been 15 years, thanks to my bosses who allow me to do what I want to.

I don’t have designer’s block. I have opportunities to do my own art projects which are then used for inspiration for Playhound’s fashion collections. I also allow my juniors to work on their own projects too, to generate new ideas. I don’t limit them to the Greyhound and Playhound’s image but I harmonize their ideas with the brand’s identity so we are always fresh.

Though I am older, my ideas are still young and fresh. I’m always open to new ideas, getting ideas from others and learning from younger generations. You probably complained about the dinosaur folks when you were young, so don’t behave like them when you’re older.

I never planned on having my own label. I’ve never thought of becoming a designer in my own name. I am just happy with what I am doing.

Owning a vintage clothes store is one of my dreams. I want to mix and match looks from cool vintage items. I’d also like to have a gallery and focus on my art. But I always have new projects coming so I don’t know when I’ll do this.

I don’t plan ahead. Just be ready when the opportunity comes.

I wish to be remembered as a person who has made changes, good changes, either in art, fashion or anything.