Italian top fashion designer Giorgio Armani has agreed to help Thailand's bid to transform Bangkok in an international fashion hub for the region and to become the first advisor for the "Bangkok Fashion City" project, designed to turn Bangkok into one of the world's top fashion centers.

Thailand is injecting 1.8 billion Baht (US$ 456 million) at an aim to revamp Thailand's poor reputation as a haven of cheap, pirated copies of designer goods to that of a world fashion center as "Paris of Asia".

Panlert Baiyok, manager of the government's "Bangkok Fashion City" initiative, said that "Giorgio Armani" responded to Thailand's invitation letter to become the first foreign advisor for the "Bangkok Fashion City" project, and he agreed and was willing to lend support to the Thai project."

The Italian designer agreed to provide consulting and technical assistance and to train Thai fashion designers, free of change, at his Milan based fashion empire. Six of the Thai Kingdom's most promising design students will travel to Milan to become part of Armani's designer team and workshops.