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There is one stylish man to know in Siem Reap and you can bet that if Loulou de la Falaise or Christian Lacroix or any of the women who wear their clothes travel to Angkor Wat, they would want to stop in his atelier. Lacroix and de la Falaise already know about Eric Raisina and his flamboyant silk fashions as they have incorporated them into their own wares, but for others his creations are an unexpected and thrilling discovery.

The Madagascar-born designer trained in Paris but has set up shop on the outskirts of Siem Reap. As someone who grew up surrounded by the vivid tropical colors of Madagascar, Raisina immediately felt inspired by the silk weaving that he saw when he first visited Cambodia twelve years ago. A few years later, he began consulting for Artisans d’Angkor, a non-profit enterprise to encourage local artisans. He has since set up a workroom and atelier in Siem Reap, where two dozen Khmer work, in the same building where he lives. The fabric that has brought him the most renown, he refers to as “silk fur”, and it is inspired by traditional Khmer dress. Its luxurious texture has caught the attention of buyers from Barneys as well as many Parisians. (Raisina’s career high thus far was when it was incorporated in an Yves Saint Laurent bustier.) When Raisina isn’t busy working in his atelier, where visitors are welcome by appointment, he travels for inspiration and promotes the Khmer artisanship that lured him here in the first place. “”It’s difficult to talk about a fashion industry in Siem Reap because the tourists wear items designed here and then go home,” he recent told a local reporter, “but what we have done in the last 10 years is amazing. Young people are beginning to design bags and scarves. We need another ten years, and the establishment of a real fashion design school in Cambodia, to get Cambodians to design for Cambodians. Then we can have a true fashion identity.”

Read an interview with Raisina about Siem Reap, style and travel.