Siem Reap, the gateway city to Cambodia's prized millennium-old temples of Angkor, attracted the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Kennedy and was one of Asia's most popular destinations in the 1960s. Now, having recovered from the dark days of the Khmer Rouge, it is back on form, drawing a laid-back, creative crowd from across the globe.
Among the new fashionable set is Malagasy textile and fashion designer Eric Raisina. 'Siem Reap is home for me now,' he says. 'It is a charming city with a great lifestyle. I am inspired living here.'
Raisina, who has created textiles for Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent, was first attracted to the city because of its reputation as the centre of silk. 'I knew from my Parisian studies that Cambodia had silk, and of course I was keen to discover the Angkor temples,' he says. 'I bought a ticket and spent more than a week in 1996 between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, but I immediately fell in love with the energy of Siem Reap.
'I bought many pieces of silk and learnt more about silk production in Cambodia. I then made several trips between 1998 and 2000, when I visited silk farms and was able to weave my own fabric. During these trips I created a silk 'fur' that I used for an Yves Saint Laurent luxury range.'
Raisina grew up in Toamasina on the east coast of Madagascar and started to use his mum's sewing machine to make his own clothes when he was 14. 'I made so many pieces by the age of 20 that I gained a deep understanding of patterning and sewing,' he says.
In 1993, aged 23, he created his own collection using Malagasy cotton and embroidery. He was awarded the title Young Fashion Designer of Madagascar at the Fashion Festival and Textile Competition and a scholarship from the French Embassy in Antananarivo to study textile design in Paris. 'I'm keen to do one-of-a-kind dresses, but also accessible ranges for men and women that reflect my vision of 'haute texture', and the use of flamboyant colours. Natural fibres such as silk, cotton, linen and raffia from Madagascar are my favourites.'