Mahima “Palika” Sirikulthada

Collection

Bio

BFA AWARD: Social Impact Designer of the Year

i can’t cross my legs, can you?

Fit - Not just on the body
But between the body and the world
Posture taught, Legs closed, Back straight
Hands quiet
A learned belonging, Or a learned exclusion
“I can’t cross my legs, can you?”
Question - A refusal
A body uninvited
Heritage carried in touch, Inherited gestures
As archive, As protest
Invite a presence that doesn’t apologize
How we sit, How we bend, How we measure worth
Between what posture permits
And what it denies
Not costume, Not privilege
But a practice of care
Of fitting without erasure, Of claiming space
Even when the chair was never made for you

Sirikulthada’s collection begins with a question disguised as a gesture: “I can’t cross my legs, can you?” From this quiet dissonance, her work unfolds. What appears to be a movement so ordinary it often goes unnoticed becomes a lens through which she examines how bodies navigate spaces shaped by unspoken codes of propriety, discipline, and design. The work refuses to treat the body as neutral or universal. Instead, it understands the body as a contested landscape shaped by surveillance, tradition, architecture, and clothing itself. Within it, this project listens for what the body has been taught to hide, marking moments where the body reveals its difference and the world reveals its exclusions. What emerges is not an apology for that difference, but a material insistence that such difference is meaningful, present, and deserving of visibility.

Image: **look five** *posture dress*: carved wood lined with leather corseted on the back of a double faced silk satin dress with belly and hip curve seam details

Image: **look three**
*handwoven top*: silk mohair warp with silk organza and gold satin chiffon weft hand woven and sewn ontop of bias silk organza finished with handmade self bias tape as well as shoulder yoke details and sheer front panel
*handwoven scarf*: silk mohair warp with silk organza and gold satin chiffon weft
*sheer princess seam top*: blush rose silk organza french seam top with godet hip details and 27 handmade bridal loops paired with oval mother of peal buttons
*engraved metal pants*: 100% cashemere pants with laser engraved wood pattern on brass encased in welt pocket as well as hip accentuating curved wasitline detail

Image: shoe: brushed cotton with handmade sari silk and silk chiffon gold thread woven matierality ballet flat with extended square toe, paired with handmade mohair knit sock

Image: **look four**
*curved hem shirt*: curved hem low neckline white button up shirt with mother of pearl buttons
*handwoven bias tape vest*: double layer ivory silk organdy finsihed with handmade bias tape from handwoven cotton fabric sourced from the east of thailand
*wooden skirt*: hip accentating curved yoke skirt with lasercut wood encased in ivroy silk organdy side panels and handmade sari silk and silk chiffon gold thread woven matierality

Image: **look two**
*custom jaqaurd top*: hand block printed wood pattern jaqaurd custom done as fabric is being woven on the jaqaurd machine - composed of silk and lycollel/linen fibers - finished with self bias binding
*hand woven scarf*: silk mohair, layered unspun silk, and wool warp with silk mohair weft
*jong kraben*: thai inspired traditonal silhoutte pants made with hand woven cotton sourced from local craftmans in the east of thailand
*organza balloon overlay*: dry rose silk organza three quarters sheer overlay balloon pants finished with french seams and a baby hem

Image: **look one**
*curved lapel blazer*: hand combed wool roving encased in a pewter silk organza carefully positioned ontop of a brushed cotton finished with satin bias tape and mother of pearl buttons
*wrap bib*: silk organdy wrap bib with hip accentuating staps finished with engraved mother of pearl buttonsbelly
curve skirt: deep olive double faced charmuse long train skirt with belly curve accutenting wasitline and wrap tie details, as well as curved side seaming, a baby hem, and a silk chiffon godet underlay

Image: this handmade jewerly collection reimages adornment as image and image as body.it highlights to curvature, archirtecture, and traditional casting techniques; celebrating the raw beauty of materiality. subtle irregularities are preserved, allowing my hand to remain visible in every surface, cast in polished brass

Image: chocolate brown calfskin ballet flat with loop detail and hand embroidered multi colored perle cotton accents on the topline
canvas ballet flat with hand embroidered knotted jute with multi colored perele cotton accents and hand carved curved horsebelly heel

Bio

Mahima “Palika” Sirikulthada is a designer and multidisciplinary artist whose practice is compelled by fit: an ongoing exploration of how we perceive, navigate, and anchor our bodies within the world. Raised within communities where art is woven into the everyday, she carries a deep respect for making as inheritance, as resistance, and as ritual. This foundation informs works rooted in continuous exploration: learning, questioning, and allowing space for growth. She believes design is to spark conversation, to challenge, and to invite others to see, feel, and engage in new ways. For Sirikulthada, creation is both personal and political: a means of archiving lived experiences while imagining new ones. Her work moves fluidly between fashion, sculpture, and textile-based practices, grounded in materiality and the intimate relationship between body, form, and environment. She hopes to inspire through art that is deeply researched, and embedded in care, craft, and honest storytelling.

@lookpalika

Credits

ART DEPARTMENT

Production Design

Art Director & Production Designer Elsa Wong
Set Builder & Fabricator Pan Moncada
Set Builder & Fabricator John Parroquin
Set Dresser Gina Nguyen
Set Dresser & Graphic Designer Napan Lee
Set Dresser & Graphic Designer Chavisa Aungkavanich

Wardrobe

Designer Mahima Palika Sirikulthada
Head Dresser Jodi Tay
Dressing Assist Elissa Dziersk
Dressing Assist Lily Fowler
Dressing Assist Ava Perez
Dressing Assist Worapat Suwannachin
Dressing Assist Karissa Poon
Knit Assist Clarice Kwok

Hair & Makeup

Head Makeup/Hair May Oo
MUA Assist Haruka Yasui
MUA Assist Miu Yamazaki

POST-PRODUCTION

DIT/Editor/Colorist/Sound Design Andrew Ye
Composer Eunice Jung

Production Company Istoria Productions
Associate Production Company Plus Ultra Studios
Executive Producer Mahima Palika Sirikulthada
Executive Producer Alex K. Chan
Executive Producer Thiha Min Zin

PRODUCTION

Producer Catalina Rodriguez
Co-Producer Ching-Him Ng
Creative Director Mahima Palika Sirikulthada
Director / Photographer Thiha Min Zin
1st Assistant Director Karon Sanders
Production Assistant Gina Nguyen

CAMERA

Director of Photography Alex K. Chan
1st AC Nile Garcia
2nd AC Tyler Gurdon

G&E

Gaffer Noah Engle
Key Grip John Parroquin
Grip Ian Langley
Grip Alexander Pasquale
Grip | Swing Ferman Siasat
Swing Lala De La Grana

TALENT

Talent Veronica Campos
Talent Iman Ali
Talent Jada Foster
Talent Nova
Talent Sienna Yoon