There are local designers, and then there are designers who happen to be local.

After 14 years on a top team at Nordstrom, Bellevue-based fashion and retail veteran Suk Chai steps out with Schai (pronounced “shay”), her deeply personal premiere line. Here's a look at the first collection, which is currently being shown to top-notch market-week buyers in Chai's New York showroom. An order has already been placed (meaning not an individual order, but that a retailer will be offering the collection to its shoppers) by Louis in Boston, a sort of Mario's for the Massachusetts fash pack.