Aokbab Chutimon Surrenders To Wanderlust In Chanel Cruise ’26/27

Photography by Ronnakorn Charoenkun. Styling by Jitta Udomtanasub. Text by Natkritta Gaysornmasmani.

Each journey has shifted her perspective a little, nudging her beyond her comfort zone and shaping her own definition of escape, expressed through fashion that reflects who she is. “When I hear the word ‘escape’, I think of going away on my own and being completely by myself, connecting with nature and with who I am, with no work or anything else intruding. If I were to express escape through fashion, I think it would be a mix and match that people see and immediately think, that’s what Aokbab would wear. And if it were a story, it would be a five-minute short film, a memory that shows people how good it is to be one hundred percent your true self. It is a freedom you may not have discovered before.” (smiles)

The journey that changed her view of the world most, she says, was a stint working and studying the language in Taiwan. “One day I cycled home because I thought the rain had stopped. A typhoon was affecting Taiwan at the time. It began to drizzle, so lightly it hardly mattered, and I thought it would be fine to carry on a little longer and take in a city I had never really had the chance to spend time in. Then the wind picked up. I had already passed the metro station and would have had to cycle back, so I decided a little rain wouldn’t make me ill. I would just wash my hair when I got home. But the further I went, the harder it rained, until I was soaked through. And in that moment I found myself wondering how long it had been since I had felt anything like it, not since I was a child playing in the rain, when my parents would hurry me indoors to bathe for fear I would fall sick.”

“Those memories made me question beliefs I had always taken for granted. The day might sound ordinary, but it changed how I think and make decisions. I realised that we sometimes limit ourselves through fears or beliefs we have held without ever questioning them. Since then, I have been braver about stepping outside my comfort zone, trying things I have never done and taking risks to open myself to new experiences. That trip was an important one, because it made me a new person, happier and freer than before.”

Asked where she would like to go now, Aokbab pictures herself beneath the surface off Mexico. “If I could escape anywhere in the world, the first image that comes to mind is free diving in Mexico. But when I think about the places that always restore my energy, the answer is Kyoto. It is a city that gives me good energy and fresh inspiration every time, and it has an emotional warmth. It’s busy with tourists, but for me its energy is still the draw when I want to rest and spend a long while in nature. It is rich in that way, and it is beautiful in every season.”

Her packing list is short. “First, earrings. I’m very attached to them and they go wherever I go. Second, my phone, because I need to stay in contact.” (laughs) “Then books. I love reading, and when I really want to escape I set aside time to read and do what I like without touching my phone. Although the phone still has to come, in case work needs me. Fourth, a pillow. I like a good pillow, and if it isn’t too much trouble on a trip, I’ll bring my own. Fifth, moisturiser. I can’t go without face and body cream. Those five are always with me.”

The Chanel Cruise ’26/27 collection brings Mexico back to mind, the destination where she most wants to dive. “(The collection) feels like one of Mexico’s beaches. I don’t know why, but the image simply appeared.” She fills in the scene gradually. “There is a boat ready to go out and look for orcas, and I’m wearing Chanel, taking in everything around me. It would be very romantic. Whenever I think of the sea, I think of sunrise and sunset.” These are the hours when the light of the rising or setting sun meets the sky, and what makes the picture special is that she sees herself swimming in it. “In the image I have in mind, I’m swimming there too, in the shimmering light.” (smiles)

That wish to experience nature on her own terms connects to how she sees the collection, which she feels leaves women free to be fully themselves. “What I love about Chanel Cruise 2026/27 is that each woman reflects her own personality in every look. Two people might wear the same outfit, yet what others feel when they see you in it can differ. For me, the fun of fashion is in mixing and matching pieces in my own way, and it is easy to blend Chanel into that. I feel the modern woman is one who is entirely herself, confident, willing to try new things, take risks, break old rules and do what she has never done. That is the woman Chanel Cruise 2026/27 portrays.”

For Aokbab, fashion is not only about clothes or outward style. It is also a passport to another side of oneself. “From childhood to adulthood, our sense of dress is shaped gradually by the media around us, and at every age our view of fashion shifts a little. There was a time when I was young that I matched things with no idea what I was doing, but I enjoyed it and loved how I looked. It was another passport that let me escape into new sides of myself. Right now I’m drawn to playful, colourful fashion, pairing opposite colours or patterns that have nothing in common.”

The same openness to new things shapes her working life. She has just finished filming a Taiwanese series, an experience that was exciting from preparation through to working alongside other actors and director, and that challenged her in new ways. “It let me leap out of my comfort zone one hundred percent. It’s a romance series, Love Kills Us, and I believe people have never seen me in a romance. This is also the most feminine character I have played so far. The director supported me in moving past certain ways of acting that were tied to my earlier image. I think it’s an interesting project and I’d like everyone to see it.” (smiles) “It will be on Netflix next year, around the third quarter.”

Model: Aokbab Chutimon
Chuengcharoensukying
Make-up:
Chaidit
Somsong
Hair: Guide Sahawat
Photographer’s assistants: Narongrit Thongsanmaung, Anawin Ditsungvorn, Pongsatorn
Pongpipat
Stylist’s assistants: Piyawan Markpetch, Yanisa Kittisommanakun
Production coordinators: Wasini Sangwanthong and Melda Nakachaikul