Why Bangkok Is Looking to Milan to Learn the Language of Luxury
From Oct 19, 2026 to Oct 28, 2026, Thai entrepreneurs, designers, professionals and students will take part in Experience the Italian Essence: Milan Edition 2026, a programme dedicated to Italy’s fashion and luxury system.
The initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Bangkok and the Italian Institute of Fashion Management in Milan.
More than a study trip, the project shows how Bangkok is looking to Milan to understand the relationship between culture, craftsmanship, design and business management.
A New Connection Between Bangkok and Milan
The collaboration was formalised on Feb 17, 2026 through a memorandum of understanding. The agreement provides for the development of Bachelor’s and executive programmes in Luxury Management, faculty exchanges and academic activities distributed between the two cities.
Its first concrete outcome will be Experience the Italian Essence, a ten-day, eight-night programme structured around design, gastronomy, culture and lifestyle. Announced activities include lectures, visits to design studios and craft ateliers, and meetings with industry professionals.
Milan therefore becomes a laboratory in which participants can observe how materials, production skills, communication and cultural identity contribute to building a brand.
What Thailand Is Looking for in the Italian Model
Thailand already has a creative scene shaped by independent fashion, craftsmanship, textiles, jewellery, hospitality and design. The question is not how to teach the country to be creative, but how to connect that creativity with product management and an international presence.
The Italian model can offer a lesson above all in continuity. Techniques, territories and archives are not presented only as legacies of the past, but as resources capable of generating new value.
This is particularly relevant for Thailand, where artisanal knowledge and regional identities can enter contemporary design without being reduced to decorative references.
An Exchange Between Two Creative Systems
The risk with initiatives of this kind is to turn Milan into a model to reproduce and Bangkok into a passive recipient of European knowledge. The agreement, however, can benefit both sides.
For Milan, it creates a connection with one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic creative scenes. For Bangkok, it offers an opportunity to study the tools through which Italy turns culture and production into international value.
The most interesting outcome would not be the creation of Thai brands modelled on Italian ones. It would be using what is learned in Milan to develop a language of luxury rooted in Thailand’s culture and contemporary transformations. Follow CZMOS to explore the connections reshaping creative industries across Asia and Europe.
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