Founded in 2014, Patcharavipa Bodiratnangkura has transformed her passion for jewellery into one of the industry’s most exciting up-and-coming brands. Featuring stunning handmade geometric pieces with unique materials like coconut shells and stones, Patcharavipa’s pieces celebrate the legendary craftsmanship of Thai expertise and combine contemporary design with natural textures.
Patcharavipa started her journey into entrepreneurship at the tender age of thirteen, with a small costume jewellery store “crystallising” phones in Bangkok; and what a journey she has been on since then. With a degree from the Central St.Martins and collaboration with Swiss Fine-Jewellery brand Adler on her belt – Patcharavipa celebrates two years of her label with a prestigious launch on Matchesfashion.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background, what made you fall in love with jewellery design?
I was born and raised in Bangkok and found myself fascinated with gems from a very young age. I think it was when I used to play around with my great-grandmother’s jewellery and also my mother’s hand-me-downs. Both women are strong characters with a passion for collecting. The history of gems, diamonds, metals from ancient times, and everything that jewellery symbolises in human history has always fascinated me. So, when I started playing around with crafting, I enjoyed the process of making the jewellery itself and retracing the journeys of how every material is sourced.
I started with a tiny shop in Bangkok when I was thirteen years old called ‘All That Glitters’, selling costume jewellery to my friends. I also offered services where I crystallised phones (at the time it was Sidekicks and Blackberrys) One month we had around 500 phones to do and I remember thinking wow I could make this a proper business! It was such a fun experience to have the opportunity to dabble into the jewellery world at such a young age. Luckily my ideas have developed a lot further from then.
I came to the UK for most of my secondary school years then decided to enrol into Central Saint Martins for jewellery design. It was certainly the experience at CSM that made me want to turn my passion into a career; so after graduating, I launched Patcharavipa in 2014.
How has this experience influenced your brand?
This collaboration was very inspiring. I think when you are a twenty-year-old walking in to a prestigious jewellery house — it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I approached them because I admired their work and wanted them to host a pop-up in Bangkok for Adler. Working on that partnership was priceless. The opportunity to learn from such a great house was an amazing experience. It’s something I will never forget.
Tell us about your Gingko Metrics collection.
A lot of our work in Patcharavipa focuses on three important factors; materials, texture, and the sculptural aspect. I like toying with contrasting notions, whether this be in using different materials, or contrasting design concepts.
For Ginkgo Metrics, the collection stemmed from a pressed ginkgo leaf that I picked up in Hippo-en Garden in Tokyo. I found it months after my trip and was then inspired to look into further forms of art in Japan. I became fascinated with Oshibana which is the art of flower pressing. Oshibana inspired this new technique where we take the direct texture of the leaf and hand press it into our gold. The results are these beautiful imperfect linear lines that capture the moment. It’s also the first time I’ve worked with more restrained silhouettes and geometric shapes. I am excited about this collection. There’s a beauty in the subtleness, slight imperfections, and restriction of it. If I had to choose, my favourite would be the hoops. I just think that hoops represent today’s modern women.
Congratulations on your recent launch with Matchesfashion! What was it like reaching this milestone in your career?
It’s been an amazing two years since I launched Patcharavipa in 2016 to international markets. Almost everything is a milestone for us right now. The opportunity to have my designs reach a wider group of people is amazing, and I’m learning new things along the way.
Since launching Patcharavipa in 2014 – what was the biggest challenge you’ve had to face as a businesswoman so far?
I think everything in the first year was a challenge because it was so new. I think the long-term commitment to your ideas and designs, and also your sheer determination and willpower is what you need to get you through. It’s hugely competitive out there and nothing ever turns out the way you would expect. You just have to ride the wave, learn, address and then be flexible.
What is next for you? Any new & exciting projects or collaborations in the pipeline
We launched our flagship store in Bangkok back in January which was an amazing experience. For a small brand to have that platform to express our ‘universe’ has been great. We put a lot of effort into all the details within that space and I can say it represents us in every way.
The next project for us is to launch our e-commerce platform and build that side of the business. We want to be closer to customers in our way.
Check out Patcharavipa’s latest collection now on matchesfashion.com
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