Designed for urban hippies and trend-setting females with a unique sense of style, locally produced Kanjana Handmade products are simply “to dye for.” The term Kanjana means “pure gold” in Thai and is also the name of the label’s founder and designer Kanjana Poocharoen, who works with her daughters Jane and Raweerasamee. The girls didn’t study fashion design, it was mom who has really been the inspiration for all of Kanjana Handmade’s products. According to Jane, when they were were little their mom would teach them how to dress. They spent hours with her dressmaker because it was always important for mom to look her best and be very unique. Today she’s taught Jane and Raweerasamee how to make their own unique clothing. The mother-daughter team established their colorful fashion line in mid 2011 with the first collection launched in February 2012. Every single item designed by Kanjana Handmade is one of a kind.
In the first collection we saw brilliant pieces such as the one-arm asymmetrical shaped dress called “Cobalt and Dove,” a very light grey rayon jersey fabric dyed over with a deep brilliant cobalt blue. The second collection carries new shapes and colors with a similar feeling of comfortable glamour that is achieved through special designs so the wearer never looks “too” casual. We adored the elegantly understated tan/green asymmetrical dress aptly named “Night Moth” because it was inspired by the colors and patterns of the night butterfly. With modern simple stripes in the front and star spots pattern in the back, this dress is made from rayon jersey fabric, which offers the wearer ultimate comfort in any occasion that she chooses to wear it.
Besides loose-fitting dresses that can easily be worn day and night, Kanjana Handmade also has fashion items of all sorts; bags, dresses, scarves, fisherman pants, and sarongs. They have also been exploring some home furnishing products as well; pillowcases, curtain sets, baby cot sheets, etc. From the “Kanjana On the Beach” collection of scarves we found the “Strike n’ Stripe” to be exceptionally striking. A simple fan fold with multiple color dyes gives this scarf its interesting pattern. Made from very fine, super soft, ultra light rayon fabric, the eye-catching combination of colors fading from green to magenta will brighten up any outfit and it’s also great for laying out on the beach. Also from the “Kanjana On the Beach” line are the Thai-styled fisherman pants such as “Cammo-fly”, a “sploshy” pattern in bright blue and yellow with some dark grey accent. This fun pair of fisherman pants reminded the designer of a gecko trying to camouflage with the sky. As with all items from the Kanjana Handmade line, the fisherman pants are unique, but they can be customized with different colors on request.
The Kanjana Handmade studio is located in Chiang Mai, but products can be viewed and purchased online at www.kanjanahandmade.com and also on Facebook and Etsy.
