Ban Thor Phan creates adaptable modern designs for the ever-evolving global market. With three bases of operations in Thailand, Japan and here in Philadelphia, they have a unique global perspective of fashion and cultural trends in the mainstream and in regional style; using the finest natural materials, hand woven textiles, organic hemp and bamboo cotton, with their signature dyeing techniques, using the time honoured tradition of frigid leave and bark dying.
BTP is more than just a clothing company. BTP is a self-sufficient sustainable non-profit orphanage solely funded by their clothing line. All proceeds go to support their 55 orphaned abandoned and abused children. Not only do they support the children, they have also developed an amazing formula for enriching the lives of the surrounding refugee communities in Thailand through their efforts in saving people from the burdens of working in sweatshops—taking people out of the sweatshops and creating workspaces in their own homes and giving them a healthy living wage and the availability to spend time with their families and the time and space to create their own hours. Ban Thor Phan’s goal is to spread their model and inspire the world, on and off the runway, to better themselves and the world around them.
–CBS News 2010
Elias worked for Ban Thor Phan for eight years, supporting the development of a number of social design projects, which transformed migrant trades into sustainable businesses, including a coffee company that gathered foraged wild coffee from the Tong Yai National Park, a brick company, two organic farms, a retreat centre and a building company. All the subsidiary businesses’ proceeds supported the Ban Thor Phan Children’s Home. Elias supported day-to-day operations and designed clothing for the clothing line that was featured in Philadelphia Fashion Week in 2010.
