Fah Thai Magazine Jul Aug 2019

AMATA CHITTASENEE
On one Monday afternoon, Amata Chittasenee made her way to a
Thai restaurant in Thong Lor, Bangkok’s trendy and fashionable
neighbourhood. Her face, in neat makeup, had a sweet and charming
glow. An outfit of a loose shirt and trousers from Thai traditional
fabric may contrast with her Dr. Martens but they definitely made a fashion
statement. In making Thai silk and combat boots unusual bedfellows, she
made it cool. Her real name, Amata, makes her a relative unknown. But it’s
“Pearypie” – her social media persona – that gives her celebrity status with
almost two million followers in Asia and beyond.
“That’s Pha Lai Yang! What a
coincidence!” Amata or Pearypie
bursts in excitement, as she
discovered a piece of fabric hanging
down a wooden bar at Patara Fine
Thai Cuisine. It turns out her outfit
and textiles in the restaurant are
made from traditional Pha Lai Yang
(Siamese chintz), which was once
reserved for aristocracy in the late
Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin
period and whose decorative patterns
denote rank.
“This traditional textile has
a long history, when the trend of
printed fabric made its way for the
very first time to the Ayutthaya
kingdom. Back then, Siam didn’t
have the technology for printed
fabric, and artisans in the royal court
had to design the floral patterns
before sending them to be printed in
a textile factory in India,” she says.
Concluding her story about
India-Siam fashion influence
around the 18th century, she
called a waitress to order a glass
of iced coffee to treat herself on a
Top Right
Pearypie poses with
colourful threads
of Thai silk at
Thasawang Village
in Surin province,
Northeastern
Thailand. The
village is famous for
making the finest
silk in Thailand.
Below, Left & Right
Pearypie makes a
personal statement
for Thai silk on a trip
to Petra Caves and
the Roman Ruins at
Jerash in Jordan.
warm afternoon as I took notes
on her commitment to traditional
Thai fabrics.
Amata’s friendly smile makes
her seem quite nice and her story
also holds amazing twists and turns.
Born into a well-off family in
Bangkok, Amata went to Central
Saint Martin’s in London, England,
to study art and theatrical design.
Then she earned a master’s degree
in business management. Like many
people in the digital age, Amata has
her physical world interface with a
digital realm. She created “Pearypie”
as an online identity to enjoy the
thrill and adventure in digital
platforms via Instagram, Facebook
and other social media applications.
Driven by a passion for makeup and
fashion, she started her Instagram
feed sharing makeup tutorials.
“I am passionate about makeup,
and always take it as an art form,”
said Amata, having done her visual
arts degree in the London art
school. “I painted and dabbled in
colours and cosmetics on models’
faces. When the models changed
their postures or express different
emotions, I could see my art, as
makeup springs to life and develops
into different perspectives.”
“When you do what you love,
you give it your very best. I take
Instagram, Facebook and other
digital platforms as my centre
stage, to bridge my creativity with
like-minded followers.” Recently,
Pearypie has 1.6 million followers.
In the past five years, she was
recognised as a leading beauty and
fashion influencer in Asia. The viral
success took her to London and
Paris fashion shows. She worked
with some major brands and had
significant collaborations.
Pearypie had been happy with the
challenge and success for five years
until she found a drawback in the
circle of online influencer and shill
business of product endorsement.
By nature, an online influencer
is a creature of propaganda. Unlike
TV commercials in the conservative
form of advertisement, the
authenticity that drives the world
of online advertising is based on
having ordinary people recommend
merchandise or services they enjoy.
Imagine a review from some real
user or even your friends telling the
high and low points of their latest
smartphone, digital camera or a new
restaurant in the neighbourhood
based on their liking. You don’t
need very much creativity to shill a
product, but you have to make your
feed raw and real to ensure that
people will respond to your post.
But Pearypie is not the average
influencer. “As soon as I post my
latest beauty clip in my channels,
someone would make a comment
immediately: I cannot wait for your
next video clip,” said Pearypie.
“That’s heartbreaking! It took
me longer than a month to do a
storyboard, shooting, editing,
reediting and finalising a video
clip. Alas, the emotions and the
lifespan of the clip lasted only a
few seconds. Did a follower really
appreciate my creativity?”
Clearly, Amata, while an affable
person, is also frank. She has many
stories to share and is not shy to
express her feelings and ideas.
Looking into her dark eyes, I could
see a strong sense of independence
and wilfulness. The fashion
industry is full of untruths, Amata
admitted, and a person around
the industry sometimes insults
human intelligence by talking and
dramatising the same old things.
Almost two million people follow
you, and many of them see you as
an influencer, who is your influencer
or idol, I asked – wondering if an
influencer needs an influencer?
“My influencers are Samruay in
Buri Ram province, Ko in Surin
province, Kong at The Cloud who
is an environmental crusader and
Kob at Big Tree Foundation who is a
guardian of every single tree in the
city,” says Amata. “My influencers
and idols are ordinary people, a
common man and woman, who
contribute extraordinary work to
a community.”
Pearypie gave me a full body
twist, and I needed a high dose
of caffeine to handle her spin. In
this case, a double shot espresso
would do.
If you follow Pearypie’s IG
feed or Facebook lately, you might
realise that Pearypie does not feed
“As a makeup artist, I deal with colours and pigments all
the time – but they’re chemicals. The local people taught
me to source pigments from nature. They really took me
out of my comfort zone. They’re my influencers.”
Top Left
Inspired by the
Japanese kimono,
Pearypie fashioned
an outfit of
elegant silk from
Surin province
in Northeastern
Thailand.
Top Right
Pearypie does her
strut at the Louvre
in Paris with a gray
overcoat made from
Thai silk.
beauty video clips any more. She
found a new thrill in traditional
Thai fabrics. This beauty influencer
has transformed herself into a
fashionista. While many Thais find
their traditional and ethnic textile
uninspiring, Pearypie finds them
cool and chic.
“I got a piece of silk a few
years ago as a gift for my beauty
workshop at Khon Kaen University.
The lecturer kept telling me how
expensive and luxurious Khon Kaen
silk was, and I doubted it, maybe
it was an overstatement,” recalled
Pearypie. With no better idea of
what to do with that piece of silk,
Pearypie tailored her clothing and
packed it for a Dior fashion show
in Paris. It was silk, burgundy-pink
with geometric patterns, a classic
blouse with Mandarin collar,
winged shoulders and long sleeves.
Pearypie put it on with her denim
jeans to make a statement for Khon
Kaen silk in Paris.
“People from Dior gave me a
thumbs up, and they asked where
I got such a beautiful fabric to
make my blouse,” said Pearypie.
“Wow! Our traditional textiles can
be super cool and extremely good if
we make it right.”
54 55