On 22 September 2022, PSU’s Pattani Campus launched the Patanista Academy Fashion Design Institute at the Arts and Cultural Open Space, Saiburi Road, Mueang Pattani, and the PSU Pattani Pirom Center, Pattani Road, Old Town, Mueang Pattani. The aim of this ambitious initiative is to spotlight local Pattani fabrics at the international stage, and to make Pattani a center for creative business focusing on product export to the Arabian market. The enterprise is also expected to generate income for local communities. Lecturer Panida Thapanangkun, an expert in the project, presided over the opening of Patanista Academy, while Assoc. Prof. Imchit Lertpongsombat, Vice President of Pattani Campus, gave a welcoming speech, and Asst. Prof. Sirichai Poommak, Dean of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, delivered a project progress report.
Meanwhile a discussion on “The Direction of Fashion Design towards International” was conducted by Mr. Hafsoh Niyomdecha, a lecturer at the Patanista Academy Fashion Design Institute, and former personal tailor of the Royal Palace of Saudi Arabia in 2019. The highlight of the event was a fashion show demonstrating the rise of Patanista fashion design, by Dr. Abdullah Al-Usama, Head of the Bachelor of Arts Program, Islamic Studies International Program, Faculty of Islamic Science, PSU, Pattani Campus, and Asst Prof. Sirichai Phummak, Dean of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, PSU, Pattani Campus.
The fashion show collections were designed by the team of Dr. Pannakorn Kaewrakmuk, coordinator of the Fashion and Costume Design Department, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, the designer of the tailoring of 17 sets of local fabrics produced by villagers from community in Pattani.
The Patanista Academy office space is a renovated PSU building located in the Old Town, and named "Baan Leuang or Pattani Phirom". It serves as a coordination point between the community and entrepreneurs, offering easy access to the project and the laboratory building of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts for training various skills. After the official launch, a network will be created to foster cooperation between stakeholders in fabric production and processing, and the new generation designers across the country, such as the TCDC Design Promotion Center, and the Textile Institute. The final stage of the plan is to hold festivals, such as Pattani Fashion Week.
Asst. Prof. Sirichai explained that Patanista Academy: Pattani Fashion City originated as a result of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts tasked by the university to help implement its research strategy, driving cultural diversity and spatial business development. Art and science are linked to the local business groups, especially fashion entrepreneurs.
Dr. Pannakorn said that PSU aims to make Pattani known as a fashion city that stands out for batik fabrics. The mission focuses primarily on three issues: people development, Muslim fashion development, and production presentation improvement.
“The reason for choosing Pattani batik fabrics is because the Pattani Heritage project collects quite a lot of information about batik fabrics. It was found that Pattani batik fabrics are unique, distinctive, and familiar to local people. There are hundreds of fabric production groups. The next thing that needs to be done is to make batik fabric into international fashion,”
Dr. Pannakorn explained.
