In 10 years Elle Fashion Week has gone from local splash to International Explosion. It's back next month.

Elle Fashion Week celebrates 10 years of audacious duds at CentralWorld from October 16 to 19 with 17 top local brands and three fresh designers.

Who would have guessed back in 1999 that a catwalk show in a tent would blossom so gloriously? The ambition seemed too overreaching.

But Elle Thailand editor-in-chief Kulawit Laosuksri recalls that the time had come to marshal the local design troops and lay siege to the international stage.

Now, he points out, "A lot of the designers who debut their collections here go on to great things overseas - I'm very proud to have seen a global phenomenon created.

"And it's important to remember that Elle Fashion Week has been entirely done by the private sector - we saw its necessity and we have never asked for support from the government."

Designer Chanita Preecha-witayakul, the founder of Senada Theory, remembers her debut in 1999.

"There were only six of us - Greyhound, Flynow, Nagara, Kai, Hugo and me. It was really exciting seeing everyone dressed up. The show had only half the seats we have now.

"Then, for the second year, there were media representatives from across the region. So we were constantly gaining confidence, and we knew it was going to work."

Chanita praises the organisers for insisting on a high standard in the clothes and accessories presented.

"They're always very selective," she says. "One year we might have 21 brands in the seven days, but the next there could be far fewer in order to maintain the quality of Fashion Week."

Young designers can now count on the event to garner business and international recognition, Chanita adds - and the shoppers win too.

"Seeing a live fashion show is completely different from seeing the clothes in the magazine or on the Net. The customers get to see how the outfits really look when worn, and they know where they can buy them."