Celebrating the style of Queen Sirikit of Thailand
the royal dresser fashion style
Chandler Tregaskes Harriet Johnston Annabel Sampson Isaac Bickerstaff Ben Jureidini Charlie Fenton Clara Strunck Condé Nast
A history Queen Sirikit of Thailand's style and her relationship with couturier Pierre Balmain
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Meeting King Bhumibol Adulyadej in France while staying at the Thai Royal Embassy as students, Sirikit accompanied the King to visit various tourist attractions and soon fell in love. The couple were engaged in 1949 and married a year later, a week before his coronation.

Serving as Queen Regent when the King embarked on the traditional period as a Buddhist Monk, Sirikit performed her duties so well that she was officially named Regent of Thailand. She also holds a host of other incredible accomplishments, receiving coveted awards like the Humanitarian Award from the Asia Society, the Award of Excellence from the United Nations and the Lindbergh Award. Her long term contributions to fashion have never gone unnoticed either, she made the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1960, oversaw the creation of the eight traditional outfits for official royal functions and founded the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in 2003.

Her decades-long collaboration with the celebrated Pierre Balmain began in 1960, when Queen Sirikit commissioned the couturier to create her wardrobe for the historic 15 nation state visit alongside the King. The six-month long tour had to include daywear to eveningwear, casualwear to formalwear to suit every possible event scheduled. The collection he created featured many jacket and dress sets with bows inspired by traditional obi sashes, large silk flower embroideries and decadent draping around the waist. On top of this, Balmain was also tasked with choosing all of the accessories to pair with his designs.

The relationship between the Queen and the designer continued well into the early Eighties and began to incorporate the delicate embroidery work from another French artisan, Francois Lesage. While still designing Sirikit’s Western-style clothing, together they also created much of her Thai national dress too, developing methods to include ancient Thai village skills into her pieces for national occasions.