The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has appointed Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya its Ambassador for Fashion and Design.
WIPO said the appointment indicated its recognition of the princess’s “outstanding contributions to creativity, innovation and the strategic use of intellectual property (IP).”
The organisation held a ceremony marking her appointment at its headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.
The princess had gained 541 IP assets during her long fashion career and had registered trademarks in 34 countries for her range of branded jewelry, leather goods and home décor, WIPO director general Daren Tang said.
Her iconic creative identities, including the Peacock motif and the “SR” monogram, combine cultural expression with commercial strength and show how strategic IP use can help drive enterprise growth, Mr Tang said.
Her Royal Highness had shown “a consistent, deliberate practice of using intellectual property as a foundation for building a lasting creative enterprise. … Yet Her Royal Highness's work extends well beyond her personal portfolio. Across Thailand, she has worked directly with artisans and craftspeople, helping communities take their traditional heritage and develop it into products that compete in contemporary markets. Her experience in bringing together heritage, design and intellectual property is a model that others should emulate”, director general Tang said.
He hoped the ambassadorship would allow the princess to extend her work beyond Thailand - helping communities in other countries find new potential in their own creative traditions through designs, branding and the strategic use of intellectual property.
Mr Tang thanked Thailand for hosting an exhibition at WIPO that highlighted the princess’s distinctive IP holdings, including examples of products from her fashion lines, as well as traditional methods of creation used by Thai artisans.
Present at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Suphajee Suthumpun said: “By graciously bestowing original fabric patterns upon local weavers and artisans throughout the Kingdom, Your Royal Highness has sustainably generated livelihoods for more than 800,000 families across all 77 provinces across the country, creating economic value exceeding 200 billion baht, or more than 5.3 billion euros".
“These royal endeavors demonstrate to creators and designers around the world that intellectual property, when rooted in cultural heritage, can generate enduring social and economic value for generations to come,” Ms Suphajee said.
According to WIPO, the appointment reflects a long-standing engagement of the Thai royal family with intellectual property. In 2009, His late Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX, was the first recipient of the WIPO Global Leader Award, in recognition of his contributions as an inventor and his commitment to innovation.
HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya received the WIPO Award for Creative Excellence in August 2025.
