Chanel presents 'Cruise' replica along Bangkok's river

Chanel on Wednesday staged a replica of its Cruise 2018-2019 collection along Bangkok's Chao Phraya river, the first ever showing for the French fashion house in the Thai capital.

Debuted in Paris in May, the show featured a massive ocean liner that was installed in the Grand Palais as a backdrop to designer Karl Lagerfeld's nautical-inspired creations.

Fashionistas in Bangkok were treated to a different experience, ferried from a pier in Bangkok's historic Yan Nawa neighbourhood to a boardwalk where a giant white tent was erected.

The Bangkok show is Chanel's second ever in Southeast Asia. The first was in Singapore in 2013.

Inside under subdued blue lights, models hit the catwalk sporting colourful berets, white tights, sequined smocks, and -- of course -- a vacationer's twist on the classic Chanel tweed.

Joining Bangkok's glitterati were actress Tilda Swinton and Lily-Rose Depp - Johhny Depp and Vanessa Paradis' model daughter - and Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of global fashion.

The choice of Bangkok to host a re-showing of its Cruise collection -- which is well-suited for the Southeast Asian country's tropical weather -- was easy, Pavlovsky said.

"The Thai market is a market of the future, which enters in our top ten" of the top-consuming nationalities of Chanel, Pavlovsky told AFP.

Bangkok, the engine of Thailand's growth and home to super rich families who dominate the country's economy, currently has four Chanel boutiques - a sign of the "dynamic" Thai market, said Anglique Riviere, a Chanel press representative.

While Thailand's economy has been undergoing a slowdown for the past decade due to coups and global financial fluctuations, its luxury goods market has continued to see "positive growth" said Valeria Scaramuzzi, a market insight manager from Deloitte, which has conducted luxury and retail analysis worldwide.

"Urbanisation, a strong retail presence of luxury brands and social media influencers keep helping the cause," Scaramuzzi told AFP, adding luxury fashion revenue is expected to grow almost six percent each year.