Sabaidee!

I am Vila Phounvongsa, hailing from Seno, a peaceful little town, which used to function as a military airport and base. During my education there, I was particularly drawn to geography, history, and English. After school, I would spend hours at the library, since we had no television at home. Those library visits with my friends were wonderful times.

During Crisis Comes Discovery

After completing upper secondary school in Seno, I moved to Vientiane to study architecture, thinking it would be elegant and enjoyable. This proved to be an unfortunate choice that I had to endure for four years – not that there was anything wrong with architecture as a profession, I simply didn’t enjoy studying it. After graduating in 2019, just as I was looking for work, the COVID-19 pandemic struck globally, dramatically altering my career path. Though I had previously jumped between jobs out of boredom, I finally found my calling with SNAÉ DESIGN.

Before this, I had attempted various ventures: design services, website development, social media management, and even selling postcards featuring provincial dialects. These efforts failed due to my lack of experience and self-awareness. Despite my distaste for my architectural studies, I discovered my true passion for creating posters. Simply put, graphic design captivated me. Combined with my love for history and antiquity, I positioned myself as a “retro designer” specializing in vintage aesthetics. Inspired by old photographs of Laos that everyone described as “snaé” (charming in Lao), I established Snaé Design in 2022.

The Power of One Thousand Kip

My breakthrough came with T-shirts featuring the three women from the 1,000 kip note. This design was deeply personal – growing up poor, my mother would give my brother and me a thousand kip each for school lunch. The post-COVID inflation crisis added another layer of meaning. I reasoned that since every Lao person recognized these three women from different ethnic groups, why not put this familiar image on wearable art?

On August 15, 2022, I posted a mock-up of the design on Facebook. Within minutes, purchase inquiries flooded in, including wholesale requests – all before production

had even begun. The response was so overwhelming that I had to turn off my phone for three days and temporarily stop taking orders. The 1,000 kip note, first issued in 1992, found new life 30 years later through my designs. Even young children recognized it as the “banknote of the buffalo,” nicknamed for the herds depicted on its reverse side.

Today, I run SNAÉ SHOP. My product line focuses on everyday items: shirts, bags, hats, clothing, postcards, and Lao-style stickers. The most popular item remains the T-shirt featuring the three women wearing glasses. Foreign tourists

make up most of my clientele, and I’ve developed a simple way to explain the concept – I clip a 1,000 kip note to the products and tell them, “Do you recognize this? It comes from our money.” They understand immediately.

What began as a childhood memory of a thousand kip note has transformed into a thriving business. I’m grateful that my early struggles inspired such creativity. Sometimes poverty can plant the seeds of innovation.