Online fashion designer

Kunyarat Pladisai discovered her unique design talents and e-commerce skills purely by chance

In the digital era, online trading has become a popular way of doing business, allowing everyone to shop from their desk, or from home.

Many entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the opportunities opened by the Internet, and Kunyarat Pladisai is one of the more successful e-traders who began her fashion design businesses on the Net. It has now grown into a business worth millions.

Kunyarat is owner and designer of "Sorbet", a unique fashion-apparel brand, and "cocktail", a brand of costume and made-to-order jewellery. Both brands rely on online trading.

Despite owning just a small fashion design business, Kunyarat recently received a big opportunity to design a fashion collection for Wilson, a sportswear brand known around the world that focuses on tennis suits and jackets. The offer also included the use of her brand name, by labelling the sportswear collection "Wilson by Sorbet".

"We created a unique design for Wilson, and made only one piece per design," she says, adding that the garments will soon be presented by a world-class female tennis player, although she declined to name her.

She says the Wilson brand has not previously produced fashion designs for sportswear. However, it plans to add value to its products by focusing more on fashionable characters.

Kunyarat, 29, was one of 30 young designers selected last year to open a shop in the Fashion Extra Zone at Siam Paragon. The shop is expected to open next month, displaying 60 to 70 unique design items.

Kunyarat began her business after discovering her design talents more or less by chance. She had resigned from a job in 2002.

"My husband asked me to quit the job, even though I'd worked there for only two months, because I was pregnant. So I had to find something to do and finally I made a pregnancy dress for myself," she recalls, adding that she also designed some garments for her coming baby.

Kunyarat's friends liked the dresses so much that they asked her to design for them. Others ordered special designs for their kids. To start with, she designed and sewed garments free of charge.

"Although they paid the main costs there were miscellaneous costs that I was reluctant to tell them about," she says.

Increasing orders meant increasing costs and, eventually, she thought of opening a business to take orders from her friends. But her husband didn't like the idea.

"My husband didn't want me to work hard because I'd suffered one miscarriage and he was afraid for our unborn baby. But I wanted to move forward with my business plan," she says.

After consulting with friends, Kunyarat finally opened an online business, allowing her to work at home and have more time to rest. She opened both e-trading websites, selling "Sorbet" brand fashion garments and "cocktail" brand jewellery, at the same time.

Before discovering her talent for fashion design, Kunyarat graduated from the Mass Communication Faculty at Assumption Business Administration College. She worked in public relations at the Siam Intercontinental Hotel, which once stood where Siam Paragon now stands, before deciding to pursue her public-relations studies in France.

Later, she married Chatchai, who works in banking management, and he wanted her to understand investment and finance. So she returned to studies at Thammasat University.

Finally, Kunyarat could boast a high level of business, investment and marketing knowledge.

Now much of her business is conducted online. Much of her raw material, such as fabric and some accessories, are imported. She bids for the raw materials at eBay, the online auction supplier, and some have come from as far afield as the United States and Taiwan.

Sorbet's design concept focuses on "slim tank" apparel, and much of it is displayed in small shops. Moreover, the brand has also been exported to Taiwan for a leading concept store in Taipei called Fi Fi.

Kunyarat prefers to work with small shops rather than big stores to ensure high quality and the uniqueness of her designs. Concern over counterfeiting also looms when she must employ new dressmaking staff, and she feels compelled to select new staff herself.

Although her first shop will open next month, Kunyarat still feels the online business has further to go, and she plans to develop her website to allow frequent updating of her design collection.

Kunyarat says she learned from her husband how to run her business. He taught her to lay down business plans and create a financial system. However, she says she isn't ready to consider franchises, as she is too busy focusing on the sufficiency of her existing business.

She has great confidence in the local fashion industry because she says Thai people dare to dress in more fashionable designs, perhaps to catch up with Western trends. As a result, new brands are being launched almost every day.

Despite its unique fashion designs, Sorbet brand apparel is not expensive. Prices start from Bt800 for a shirt and go up to Bt2,500 for a dress.

And despite her efforts in fashion design, Kunyarat hasn't forgotten her hard-earned financial skills. She also owns another company - A Plus Advisory - which gives financial advice.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation
Thu, February 1, 2007