Fresh Faces: Beam Ratchapol Ngaongam
New York-based Thai designer with 3D knitwear
F&M’s Fresh Faces is a series featuring young Southeast Asian fashion practitioners, where we speak with them about how they embarked on their careers and what propels them as creatives.
Beam Ratchapol Ngaongam is a New York-based fashion designer hailing from Bangkok, Thailand, and the founder of emerging brand Bulan. Beam pursued a BA in Knitwear Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. As a fresh graduate, he interned at Proenza Schouler and Dion Lee. In 2021, after a successful pop-up in the West Village in New York, he started his own label. In his most recent collection, Beam explores vibrant knitwear to convey the beauty found within inner turmoil.
Beam Ratchapol Ngaongam.
To start, could you talk about your background? What or who are the main influences your work draws upon?
Back in college, my mentor was a talented Japanese knitwear designer and I learned so much from her. My style is heavily influenced by her mentorship, as well as the work of Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto. I enjoy draping and fabric manipulation, which are prominent in Japanese designs. These are hard to replicate, so I started the brand to challenge my creativity with textiles and patterning. Through Bulan, I want to offer something new and fresh in the knitwear industry.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Could you share the significance behind the name of your brand Bulan?
Bulan is an invented name my family used to address me when I was a child. It is an Indonesian word referring to the moon. When I started my brand, I wanted to call it something that has a personal connection to me, but is not my real name. Nobody had referred to me as Bulan for 20 years and one night, the word came to my mind. I relate to this name and the meaning of it too. I love the peacefulness of the night, when I become more focused, creative, and productive.
What has the process of starting Bulan been like?
Growing up, I saw how my parents encountered struggles running a company themselves. I originally planned to work for high-end brands, working my way up to become a senior designer or creative director. But life has a way of making you do things you do not plan. I started making my knitwear as a side hustle and popularity grew organically through word of mouth. It led to more opportunities, from showing a collection in New York Fashion Week to being featured on Women's Wear Daily.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
As a fashion designer running your own label, how do you keep going?
Creating a brand requires you to take on multiple responsibilities and be willing to learn new things. It takes strength and resilience to handle rejection. You have to believe in yourself to put in the work. Eventually, more people will appreciate your vision and make everything worth it.
What is it about textiles that made you gravitate towards making 3D knitwear designs?
I found my passion for textiles when I started knitting and discovered knitwear’s softness. Its luxuriousness is hard to perfect. I also love the idea of making something from nothing. Instead of buying fabric and cutting it into shapes, knitwear begins with a strand of yarn. It relies on mathematics and an understanding of the craft.
“I also love the idea of making something from nothing. Instead of buying fabric and cutting it into shapes, knitwear begins with a strand of yarn. It relies on mathematics and an understanding of the craft.”
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Your clothes play with bright colours, cut-out holes, and voluminous shapes to explore the human body. How did you arrive at this theme for your latest collection and what did you want to communicate with it?
I took care of a loved one who was suffering from mental health issues, which made me realise how it is a sensitive topic not enough people pay attention to. I decided to create the collection to raise awareness. It began with my fascination for how the body works and became an exploration of melancholy and beauty, especially the points where they converge. The collection incorporates chaos and comfort through its oversized silhouettes, holes, and wraps. I was inspired by the German-American painter Hans Hofmann to create an uplifting palette that could overpower negative feelings.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
As an emerging knitwear designer, you operate on a slower form of production. What is the technical process of developing a collection that shows once a year? Are there challenges when balancing your pieces’ prices and stocks?
I release only one Fall/Winter collection a year because it is more financially feasible, especially for a self-funded, emerging brand. It also gives me more time to develop a collection that is meaningful and thoughtful, down to the smallest details. It is an everyday battle when it comes to prices and stocks. I use high-quality Italian yarns for all of my pieces and ship them to craftspeople in Thailand who tend to charge more with a lower minimum-order quantity. My clothes are expensive to produce, so the prices have to be adjusted accordingly.
There is renewed focus on craftsmanship in fashion with the rise of trends like ‘quiet luxury’ and ‘stealth wealth’ that emphasise minimalism and sustainable materials. How does Bulan create a unique space in the industry with its maximalist approach to knitwear?
I see myself as a designer who creates trends. I am paving a path for my brand where I do not have to compete with anyone. I enjoy working with fabric manipulation which creates unique designs in themselves. I think there is this idea that quiet luxury is the height of craftsmanship. The quality depends on the garment’s production, regardless of whether it is a simple design or an avant-garde one. There is a specific way of making knitwear that one cannot skimp on, like using precise stitches to create a construction out of one hank of yarn.
“I enjoy working with fabric manipulation which creates unique designs in themselves. I think there is this idea that quiet luxury is the height of craftsmanship.”
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Bulan Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Photo by George Analdo. Image courtesy of Bulan.
Finally, what plans do you have in store for you and your brand moving forward?
I am hoping to see my knitwear stocked at Bergdorf Goodman, SSENSE, or Net-A-Porter. I also want to collaborate with big brands and start building a team. Other than that, I am working as a textile specialist for Prada at one of its stores in New York, and planning to start on my next collection.
See more of Beam’s work here and on Instagram at @bulannewyork.