Tenwi: Unapologetically Unique

Photography: @shootmecali

Tenwi shares the story of his eponymous label that debuted its FW23 collection during Paris Fashion Week last March. Covering his rich background in fashion, from attending schools in Florence to hone in on the art, to Tenwi’s personal journey that led to the birth of his unique and unapologetic brand, we touched on it all. Calling in from Thailand sat in front of wavering palm trees, the designer walked us through an introduction to what it means to be immersed in the captivating cultural tapestry that is Tenwi. 

NW: Can you tell us about the story of Tenwi so far & your journey coming from a styling background? 

Tenwi: I studied Fashion Design in Vienna where I grew up and I did my masters in Florence at Polimoda, a fashion school in Italy. From there I got into styling so right after graduation I was working mainly in styling, I was working at Fashion Weeks in Milan in Paris and we were doing JW Anderson's show, we did a Fendi campaign, always travelling to Milan, Paris and London. Then after a while, I decided to move to Berlin for an internship and I got to know how other designers work which helped to shape my perspective. I started the brand around 16 when I started fashion school, it was more of a personal project for myself. It wasn't what it is now, back then it was super colourful and I was experimenting. Now I think I found my direction and my style. I feel like it takes many years to understand what you want as a designer. 

I'm from Thailand so a lot of inspiration from the artistic point of view came from growing up Buddhist. My mom always taught me a lot about it, we went to temples and I could always see all of these details, the textures, and very distinct architecture. It's great to see that Southeast Asian culture is so rich in their perspective and how they do things. Vienna has rich culture but I feel like everywhere in Europe, the style kind of repeats itself. It's a lot of Renaissance and even if I go to Paris, it actually looks like Vienna, just like how Rick Owens loves Vienna because he understands there is a connection between Paris and Vienna.

I think it was hard in the beginning because I was young, I couldn't speak the language and I always felt disconnected. If I'm in Europe people don't see me as a European even though I grew up there, I was there for 20 years. If I go to Thailand, the people see me they don't think I'm Thai. Sometimes there's no place where it feels like home but at the same time, you create your own world and I can have that freedom or that privilege to express myself in my own way and I don't have to fit in anywhere else. So yeah, that's like how the brand started and how it's still evolving.

Photography: @shootmecali

NW: How are you able to manage your role as a Creative Director & Stylist for the brand? 

Tenwi: I never knew the job of a stylist existed. I was 16 or 17, I was always doing everything which I think every designer does, they just work with what they have or with their friends. Once I was working with teams and being in different productions, I understood that. If you have your team and everyone is focusing on their thing, then the outcome is better. If you have to focus on everything at the same time you can never excel at the level you want to be. Or maybe you can but it’s very stressful!

At the FW23 show, I felt more like a producer. I had to make sure everything was ready, prepared and organised, but it was fun. I am lucky that I had worked with stylists who are super strict and have been in this business for 20-30 years. They have a very distinct way of doing things and I respect that.​​ I think the more you work in industry, the more experience and knowledge you have, you know how people work and how to communicate. I don’t think talent is involved you just have to organise yourself. A lot of people say there's not much creative work involved in styling and design because 80% is always the organising and bringing the team together. 

NW: Could you talk about the most recent collection and who was your muse for that, who do you see as the customer of Tenwi?

Tenwi: I​​ don't really care about looks that much, it's more about personality. I like people with strong personalities, who like to be themselves and express themselves in the way they want to and not how someone else would fit them in a box. A big inspiration for me was always, rappers like Travis Scott & Playboi Carti but it’s not just them. I've been in so many different scenes, and I always got complimented on my style or the pieces I made by very different people. I think what they all have in common is that they are open-minded people who come together. 

If you stand for something, you should always go for it. There will always be people who won't like what are you doing but there are people who will love what you're doing. I see fashion as a place where a lot of innovations in society can be made. Fashion has always talked about topics that other areas haven't tried to approach, it brings up new topics and new conversations.

Photography: @shootmecali

NW: How have the cultures you have lived in played a role in the development of Tenwi as a fashion brand that touches on your personal values and experiences?

Tenwi: I wanted to get out of Vienna to get to know new people, a new environment and I just loved the architecture. It was easy to get to Rome or a train to Milan but then I moved to Berlin which was its own bubble. It was international people coming together, lot of music, fashion, club culture and everyone spoke English. For example, Berghain when I went there, I realised what people mean by, if you go there it's a safe space for queer people but also straight people go there and everyone is super respectful. 

It was interesting to see that these things exist and why Berlin is so famous for techno music because also I'm in Bangkok right now and there are a lot of Berlin-DJ’s getting invited to play at events. Even in Milan, I was working for JordanLuca and they had an after party and they invited Herrensauna to perform, a DJ collective from Berlin. 

Photography: @shootmecali

NW: It feels like the space we are in now within the industry is welcoming to nonconforming brands and Tenwi is incredibly unapologetic. How do you see your art being perceived by people with reactions from your debut show? Do you think it may have been different 5-10 years ago? 

Tenwi: Yeah, I think time matters. Sometimes it is important to start earlier before people understand what you’re doing but it’s really hard to gain attention for that because people aren’t ready yet. During COVID there was a whole different focus, it matters when you do what but it’s always a good thing to start early, the people who get it will get it. You just have to be able to take the criticism if you start something that does not exist yet. There is something for everyone, there will always be people who will support it. There are so many creators right now, DJ’s, designers, brands, people are exploding on social media. I don’t see anyone as competition because we should grow together and support each other.