Chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon — the culinary genius behind the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Kalaya — is known for her delicious Thai cuisine and trotting her adorable Pomeranians, Titi and Ginji, around her Queen Village neighborhood.
That’s how Suntaranon caught the eye of sustainable fashion designer and Lobo Mau boutique founder Nicole Haddad.
“To me, she was the lady with the restaurant and the Pomeranians,” Haddad said. “I would see her walking around Fourth Street and she’d have her Pomeranians with her. I have an obsession with Pomeranians. They are the most adorable creatures on the planet.”
So when a mutual acquaintance of Haddad and Suntaranon’s suggested the two entrepreneurs work together on a Philly fashion collaboration, Haddad jumped at the opportunity. She had the perfect project, a reimagining of Lobo Mau’s top-selling women’s swing coat, the Pom Jacket, named after Haddad’s favorite breed of dog.
This new version would be called the Nok Pom.
“It felt like kismet from the beginning,” Haddad said.
The original
About 15 years ago, Haddad was in Venice visiting the Peggy Guggenheim Museum when she chanced upon a black-and-white photo of the New York heiress and art collector surrounded by her beloved Lhasa apsos.
“She was wearing a voluminous swing coat surrounded by five little dogs that reminded me of Pomeranians and I immediately thought, ‘I want to design something like this.’”
Back in Philly, Haddad made a black-and-white swing coat just like the ones popularized in the 1930s by jazz musicians. These coats were designed by the likes of Elsa Schiaparelli and Balenciaga and sold in the world’s top specialty stores, including Philadelphia’s Nan Duskin.
Haddad’s swing coat, the Pom Jacket, was tapered at the shoulders and flared at the waist, featuring a wide shawl collar and three-quarter-length cuffed sleeves. Priced at $398, it became a bestseller within weeks; finding a cult following, including NPR host Terry Gross, in the city.
In 2022, the Pom caught the eye of a buyer at New York’s Guggenheim Museum where it sold in the museum’s gift shop through 2024.
“It was a full circle moment,” Haddad said.
Meanwhile Suntaranon and Natalie Jesionka, the coauthor of Suntaranon’s 2024 book, Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook, had their eyes set on the Pom Jacket.
The remix
On a winter afternoon in 2019, Suntaranon stopped on a dime in front Lobo Mau’s then-Bainbridge Street boutique. She had to have the original black-and-white Pom Jacket in the window.
“Within two seconds, we sold her the jacket and she left,” Haddad said.
Suntaranon loved her jacket and has since been a supporter of Lobo Mau. It was Jesionka, a longtime Lobo Mau client who owned several iterations of the Pom, who suggested Suntaranon and Haddad collaborate.
Haddad knew Suntaranon gravitated toward bold-hued pieces that appeared architectural but flowed like liquid over women’s curves. She also knew that Suntaranon collected origami-inspired pieces by Japanese womenswear designer Issey Miyake.
“I’ve been collecting [Miyake] since I was 22,” Suntaranon, 57, said, mentioning the pleated teal, limited-edition Issey Miyake gown she wore to the 2025 James Beard Awards dinner in Chicago. “It’s timeless and beautiful.”
Suntaranon arrived at Haddad’s Bok Building studio in September 2025 — she closed her Bainbridge Street store in 2024 after landlords tripled the rent — with a clear idea of her dream Nok Pom.
She wanted a fuller silhouette that was longer in the back and had a button closure.
“I wanted a more dramatic look,” Suntaranon said.
Haddad created a print featuring a trompe-l’oeil 3D-effect that gave the illusion of Issey Miyake-style pleats. She had it digitally printed on cobalt blue sweatshirt material.
She added a box pleat in the jacket’s center back to create volume and drama, piping along the outer edge of the collar, and pockets on the inside and outside of the jacket. As a final touch, she put a big black button under the bustline.
The Nok Pom was ready.
“It’s beautiful,” Suntaranon said of her eponymous fashion piece. “It’s exactly how I envisioned it.”
The Nok Pom, priced at $450, is a limited-edition item and is available to order through Jan. 10.
In February , Haddad got a Pomeranian of her own that she named Johnny. She designed matching hoodies for Johnny, Titi, and Ginji, that are also for sale.
Suntaranon is flattered that she — and her pooches — are a part of the city’s food and fashion scene.
“Fashion — just like food — is a big part of my life,” Suntaranon said. “Fashion and food are an art. When the fashion industry is thriving and the food industry is thriving, the city is thriving.”
The Nok Pom is available online through Jan. 10 on lobomau.com
