Nunthirat "Koi" Suwannagate started out in the fashion trade in Los Angeles with $36 in her pocket. The eight years since have seen her succeed beyond her wildest dreams, but she's never been comfortable with people calling her a "designer".

"I make clothes," she tells people who ask what she does for a living.

Koi, now 40, had worked for two years at the Thai fashion house Jaspal before deciding to pursue her studies abroad. She didn't get her degree, though, opting to jump-start her own business instead.

Her first designs - T-shirts with floral accents - became an early signature. The decorative art she studied at Silapakorn University inspired her patchwork and embroidery, sometimes using seashells.

But Koi's breakthrough came with cashmere, cut for tees with fancy shoulders and necklines. "Cashmere isn't usually used for cutting, so it came as a surprise to people," she says.

Meanwhile she was also turning people's heads with her 3-D designs, as seen in her colourful butterfly dresses.

Rather than exhibiting her designs at clothing fairs, Koi went for an exclusive clientele, shopping her togs to buyers at key retail stores.

One of her most daunting pitches was at the Fred Segal shop, whose buyer was widely feared, "but when he saw my collection he said, 'Hot, hot, hot!'"

Koi unveiled her first line in 2001 but remained "under the radar", as she puts it, until New York Fashion Week in 2007, where Vogue magazine and the Council of Fashion Designers of America nominated her for a coveted Fashion Fund Award.

"Anna Wintour, Vogue's editor, has supported many of the Asian designers on the scene today," Koi says. "She always comes to see my shows."

The Fashion Council helped her find her niche and set up a business plan, and Koi was on her way to the big time. A "mysterious" Japanese buyer set up a "shrine" of her clothing, ordering 20 copies of every piece she designed.

Actress Christina Ricci became a friend as well as a customer, and Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman and Demi Moore have been seen in her outfits. Kirsten Dunst did a photo spread in her togs before she became famous in the cinema.

The stars who ask to wear her clothes for free, however, are shown the price tags instead.

Even with her clothes in top stores like Barneys New York and Nordstorm, though, the pursuit of success was threatening to choke off Koi's artistic side.

"I had to cut the prices to get more buyers," she says, and she also reduced the scale of her business and her participation in fashion shows, from 24 collections to 15. Instead of having her own showroom, she invites buyers to a hotel suite for a show.

"I realised you don't have to try and be bigger than you are - you can go back to your core business."

Koi says she's not turning a profit during the economic recession, but she does have her own factory.

Koi has persevered and succeeded by breaking the rules, something she was already doing as a student, cutting and pasting as if cloth were just another art medium.

"I never follow the rules," she laughs. "I like to break things apart. My friends call me Edward Scissorhands!"

Relying on gut instinct, Koi utilises whatever material she has lying around at home. She'll slice away parts of an article of clothing she doesn't like and find something else to replace it.

"I have no competitors. If you go with the trends you have to keep making things to compete, but if you ignore the trends there is no competition."

Koi believes shoppers want something unique that they can use for a long time, not the mass-manufactured clothes so instantly available these days.

She's currently expanding into other lines - scarves, bags and other accessories. The future is bright with the promise of online sales and, of course, seeing her brand sold in Thailand. 

A label with laurels

Koi and Anna Sui designed T-shirts for this year's Asian Pacific America Heritage Nordstor, and Koi was also among the leading designers who came up with new outfits for the Barbie doll's 50th anniversary at New York Fashion Week.

Women's Wear Daily included Koi's spring-summer 2009 collection one of the top 10 of the season.

Her clothes are sold at Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Harvey Nichols and exclusive boutiques in the US and 60 other retail stores around the world. -The Nation/ANN