News & event - Satin Textiles Switches Focus To Local Fabric Designs

After successfully exporting textiles for interior decoration, Satin Textiles Co has turned to producing fabrics to serve the government's policy of developing the country into a ``fashion city'' in the region.

''We see a market opportunity in the fashion textile industry. We have gained advanced design technology from our interior decoration side that can be used to create fabric designs for apparel,'' managing director Schle Woodthanan said.

After manufacturing upper-end fabrics for years, the company early this year started to produce fashion textiles to tap the growing local market. Even though the company lacks experience in domestic marketing, it opened its first retail shop in the sophisticated Gaysorn shopping plaza to sell home textiles under its own Pasaya brand, Schle said.

The firm's fabric designs have already appeared on stage at ``Elle Bangkok Week 2002'' and won awards at international exhibitions. It bagged the Trend Fabric Award for the second time at Decosit, a famous fabric exhibition held in Brussels, Belgium. The company also won an award at Italy's Proposte fabric show.

Satin's products feature various designs and weaving techniques. Its equipment can weave cotton cloth with unusual materials such as copper wires. All of its 12 designers are Thai.
Its plant in Ratchaburi focuses on a modern design working concept as well as functionality. For example, one of the buildings, named ``Casamatta'', was designed by Italian architect Olivero Godi as a multipurpose facility with a weaving plant and showroom under the same roof.

It looks more like an art gallery than a weaving mill. ``We wanted to show that our working concept is focused on design, which has become our strength. I wanted to build a showcase for the Thai textile industry,'' he said. The company's sales reached US$22 million (Bt950 million) last year and are expected to grow to $40 million in 2007. However, sales will likely dip to $19 million this year from the global economic slump.

Exports-mainly interior decoration textiles-account for 80 per cent of total capacity. Satin's main overseas markets are the United States, the European Union and Australia.
The company aims to go public in 2004, Schle said. However, he has no intention of entering into a joint venture with foreign investors because he trusts Thai-style management and experience.