Nicole Miller (Q3510)
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Nicole Miller is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Nicole Miller |
Nicole Miller is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
1982
designer
Nicole Miller took a few seasons off and is now back with a new business focus. Taking her sustainability obsession further, she’s implementing it into her business model. Her line will now become made to order, with a turnaround period of six to eight weeks for her pieces at fair-trade factories, which Miller and her team describe as the first point in the fashion chain for sustainability. Another plus is that she’ll pay her employees much more.With a made-to-order process, the pieces will have a slightly higher price point. But Miller wants to guarantee that you will be paying for quality. Her look book, which was shot on Fire Island, included models wearing her hand-beaded sequined dresses next to a chlorine-filled swimming pool. By the end of the hot summer day, the models ended up swimming in the pool in the dresses, which at first made Miller distraught, worried what the water would do to the garments. But after a quick hang dry, the dresses and sequins were perfectly intact, guaranteeing their safety for all summer pool parties.But the standouts of the collection were the simplest. A white cotton set inspired by a trip to Palm Springs included subtle elements of bling and looked perfect for taking you from the beach to dinner, while the classic LBD had a subtle rosette moment on the shoulder.
15 September 2023
Nicole Miller has been in business for almost 40 years — and since at least the ‘90s she’s been in the business of dressing cool girls likeLindsay LohanandKate Moss, so it may come as a surprise to some that she began her label with men’s ties. With the milestone anniversary coming up in September, she has been in a reflective mood, having recently rediscovered her immense archival collection of ties after a recent move. The ties, which ranged in hues of browns, beiges, and greens, inspired a camouflage-influenced collection. She patchworked them together into tank tops and midi dresses, using a similar technique to the one she explored in herfall 2022 collection.When she wasn’t reaching into her archival collection, she used military camouflage, vintage patches, suede, and other deadstock fabrics to create figure-hugging bustier tops, bell bottoms, and effortless red carpet-ready gowns. “Camo you wear to fit in, the Nicole Miller girl wears it to stand out,” explained Miller at a recent appointment, accompanied by her assistant. In the past, her resort collections would feature swimsuits and beach-ready terry cover-ups, but now Miller’s focus is on a universal wardrobe. “My clothing is seasonless, [and] you can wear [it] year-round.” She adds, “The seasons don’t really change now, and it’s kind of all one season.”These days you can find the designer reminiscing about her past runway shows on Instagram, as well as scouring Poshmark and Depop for archival looks. Who knows? They may just inspire her next collection too.
11 July 2022
High school’s best cliques are always the most elusive, but the muses of Nicole Miller’s fall 2022 collection are especially aloof. You can’t sit with these girls, nor will they invite you to chill with them behind the bleachers, but the insouciance is what makes them irresistible. As someone who has been dressing cool girls for decades, Miller understands the draw, and she turned her collection into an overview of the archetype. In the corresponding fashion film and gif images, multiple versions of the teenage rebel archetype are depicted in a faux detention hall complete with a chalkboard. “We’ve got five different personalities, some are ‘good’ girls, others are ‘bad’ ones,” says Miller. “Either way they’re all getting into some trouble.”Time in SoHo had Miller thinking of tartan and modern ways to interpret the motif. “We looked into the punk aspect, London in the’70s and ’90s” she says. “I didn’t want to do a British-themed collection, but I feel excited about tartan for the first time in a long while. That led us to think about how we could use it differently and be innovative.” Some of the season’s plaid variants skewed girly—a yellow and black color scheme will always bring thoughts of Cher Horowitz—but the best pieces adopted punk’s DIY spirit. Brooklyn’s L Train Vintage provided the wealth of flannel button-ups that Miller repurposed into a patchwork of clashing prints on off-the-shoulder dresses and on-trend lace-up bustiers.The youthquake vibe should appeal to Generation Z—who better to wear that sequin flecked trompe-l'œil “slipdress” than Olivia Rodrigo? But Miller also experimented with luxe new techniques destined to be worn by women born before Y2K. No amount of allowance money will get the average teenager one of Miller’s woven lamb leather coats, but their older sisters will have fun wearing them. Still, inventive items like the oversized graffiti jackets and lacy babydoll dress with puffy sleeves should prove appealing enough to pull the kids away from DePop and its ilk.
13 February 2022
The first real post-lockdown vacation is one of the universally acknowledged thrills of reemergence, and for Nicole Miller, that trip was to the Bahamas. The designer headed straight to Kamalame Cay at the end of the year for a refresher, and the time away from New York proved beneficial. Island vibes and the lure of the tropics were key themes within Miller’s pre-fall collection, which imagined her downtown muses on holiday—or at least in the mood for one. “There’s something so great about being on the beach and surrounded by palm trees,” Miller shared via Zoom. “Just [feeling] that tropical vibe that’s so inspirational.”Recreating the Bahamian atmosphere for her lookbook imagery with a trompe l’œil photoshoot, she began with a series of botanical patterns featuring the region’s lush vegetation on backless mini-dresses and peasant blouses. The flowers skewed sweet, but Miller added edge via studded leather jackets in black and a nice shade of burgundy. Both colors paired well with the flirty ’90s-style silhouettes of slip dresses worn with combat boots and leopard print minis with built-in corsets. Handcrafted details elevated the best pieces; a tiered maxi dress that featured an orchid print water-colored by one of Miller’s assistants was especially compelling.Even though you could take any of Miller’s creations to the beach—particularly the ruffled taffeta mini-dresses that begged for warm weather—they’re most likely to be embraced by the cool girls of the concrete jungle. As much as she wanted to infuse the collection with island ease, the need for rebellious, rock and roll-worthy looks was top of her mind. “We did a lot of corsetry detailing and lace, but it isn’t girly,” Miller said. “Everything’s paired with combat boots and leather jackets, so it’s sexy without becoming overt. [Instead] there’s a hard-edged femininity, and it runs through the entire collection.”
18 January 2022
Out of context, pieces from Nicole Miller’s spring collection could either belong in the costume closet forLaugh-In, or the inside of a 22-year-old TikToker’s wardrobe. That’s by design. This season, Miller was inspired by ’60s op-art artists, primarily Wojciech Fangor, but also Bridget Riley, Richard Anuszkiewicz, and Victor Vasarely. At the same time, she was responding to a market demand for the amped-up silhouettes that became her calling card in the 2000s. “We’ve been through a lot,” Miller said. “Everything was casual [early in the pandemic], with a lot of fabric and loose dresses. I think everyone is returning to being a bit more aggressive. People are asking for a lot of my old dresses from the 2000s, those kind of ruched, body-con ones. We did a lot of that, too.”Each of the looks was presented on a different abstract, technicolor landscape with a model floating in the center of the backdrop. The bright colors, bold patterns, and skin-baring garments might have been combining two disparate decades, but the effect was decidedly current. For example, a coral-colored, ruched mini dress was an update on one of Miller’s old designs, with the large puff sleeves pulling it into the early 2020s. Other camera-ready ensembles include a wavy-patterned, knitted halter and miniskirt set, and the short red tank dress with an empire waist of yellow plastic chain links.The most interesting pieces in the collection were the most fantastical. A collage-like print of pink, peach, yellow, and blue stripes punctuated by photo-realistic seagulls and grazing cows was deliciously surreal on a long slip dress with an asymmetrical neckline (Miller has long been known for her print work). And though there were plenty of going out dresses, the winner was a minidress made of paillettes in various sizes in a slightly more muted color palette than the rest of the collection. The final look, a nude gown embellished with rainbow sequins, would feel right at home in one of Miller’s collections from the early 2000s, giving the people what they want.
8 September 2021
When Nicole Miller was brainstorming her resort collection, she wanted to channel the carefree feel of a summer escape, 2021-style. “This is all about taking a break from the city, building on the feeling of optimism that is currently in the air,” she shared over Zoom. “It’s like you’re heading on a camping trip; everything is easy and packable, capable of being washed out in a stream.”It’s unlikely that Miller’s urbane customers will have to resort to such measures. Still, last year’s lockdowns exacerbated the desire for vacations of the old-school variety and the clothing associated with them. Hiking, camping, and road trips all elicit nostalgia, but Miller wanted to avoid a complete rehash. As such, she peppered her collection with the familiar—punchy floral prints, upcycled military jackets, and flirty dresses—while adding in new elements. These took the form of an artsy riff on camouflage featuring illustrations of animals in disruptive colorations and brightly colored bodysuits in scuba material.It’s hard to look at Miller’s pieces and not think about reemergence. The ease of her flowing prairie dresses, pastel jumpsuits, and mix-and-match separates was geared towards clients who are returning to their routines after months of solitude. They may not be 100% ready to abandon the comfort of athleisure, but they’re eager to ditch its sporty aesthetic. By offering a middle ground between the “going out” looks that dominated pre-pandemic and the lived-in vibe of the at-home wardrobe, Miller addresses their needs smartly. In the last few months, she’s been paying close attention to customer data. “It’s been such a departure from fall, which was 90% pants,” says Miller. “Now everyone wants dresses. There’s such optimism right now with the world opening up, and there’s been this return to dressing up.”When it came time to shoot her look book, Miller searched for unique destinations close to home. She and her team headed to Governors Island and the acres of luxury camping at Collective Retreats. The city meets country vibe—you can still see Manhattan’s skyscrapers in the distance—aptly summed up the collection’s mood. “A lot of people are looking for vacations with a bit of escapism, and I thought it was interesting that you could take the subway and the ferry from New York City and find yourself in a completely different environment,” says Miller. “There’s something wonderful about that, especially at this moment.”
2 August 2021
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft! Nicole Miller has something for you. After seeking inspiration in Thailand’s jungles for pre-fall and Los Angeles’s Old Hollywood hot spots for spring, Miller found herself searching for stimulation beyond Earth’s boundaries. As such, science fiction served as Miller’s fall starting point. UFOs, extraterrestrial beings, and hidden worlds are common themes in film and television, but fashion tends to ape those mediums without considering the factors that inform speculative stories. Miller took an alternate path, reacting to the spate of UFO sightings that have popped up during the pandemic. “I kept seeing these articles in the paper about aliens; it seemed everyone had a UFO sighting at the same time,” she said. “I’d already had my ankh symbols and evil eyes in previous seasons, so I started to make spaceship prints and little planets. We didn’t wind up with many prints like those within the collection. Instead, we went with abstract colors and ombré; it became more about a mood. Spring had been very whimsical, but I didn’t feel that at all this time. People are lost and fearful of the unknown, so I played with the idea of futuristic comforts.”Collaborating with artist Kimber Capriotti on an artsy look book where models seemed to chase their personal spotlights, Miller hammered home her theme. Style essentials for 2021—unstructured separates that took their cues from gymwear, comfort materials like her recycled cashmeres sourced from Italy—took center stage. Jumpsuits and other “one and done” pieces borrowed from NASA uniforms, and flight suits were given psychedelic touches like wave patterns and high-shine metallic accents. Knitwear featured prominently, either as glitter-infused separates or monochromatic sets that were paired with chunky scarves and combat boots.Going too literal with a theme that can easily skew campy would have been an error, so only a single spacecraft made its way into the collection’s final edit. A flying saucer of the ’50s B-movie variety floated across a sweater so oversized it could be worn as a minidress. Cheeky pieces like that are Miller’s forte, but the seasonal source material elevated those signatures. As much a commentary on present-day issues as a fantasy of would-be futures, the sci-fi genre depends on current events. Likewise, you can’t have a collection in 2021 without considering the impact of the pandemic.
In combining space-y motifs with upbeat fashions, Miller was able to provide a level of escapism that usually takes a season’s worth ofStar Trekto attain.
25 February 2021
The travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 crisis have caused many to daydream about trips past. The world felt like a much grander place when the prospect of jetting from one country to the next was tangible, and this season Nicole Miller found herself thinking back to her last incredible journey. At the very start of the year, Miller was on the road in Thailand with her close friendSex and the Cityauthor Candace Bushnell. The nation and its picturesque beauty served as the inspiration for a pre-fall presentation centered on wanderlust. “I haven’t been anywhere except Sag Harbor for the weekends,” shared Miller via Zoom. “We had the most incredible time traveling through Thailand and Malaysia, so I’ve been dreaming of that last trip. It was the starting point for the whole collection.”Elements from the voyage made their way onto Miller’s playful separates. The tropical motifs include animal prints, creeping vines, and decorative elephants inspired by the Chiang Rai sanctuary. “We just developed this love for them,” says Miller of her time at the refuge for animals once used in circuses or the logging industry. “You’ll see the elephants throughout, on sweaters and skirts and all the accessories.” The pachyderm patterns are a constant, their most exciting incarnations embroidered onto jean jackets or turned into silver charms that decorate chain link belts.Sustainability has been top of mind for Miller. This season she’s upcycling the distressed denim that featured prominently on the canvas that the artist Cara Marie Piazza created for the look book’s backdrop; it will be used to create blazers and bags. Piazza was also invited to lend her creativity to the knitwear. “We got her to make a sweater using these all-natural vegetable dyes,” says Miller.Short skirts, punchy patterns, and soft colors gave the lineup a quality that vibes with Miller’s customers’ current needs. “I cut my dresses down to a minimum because right now the entire world has gone casual,” she says. “By midsummer though I think people will be needing them again or at least wanting to be a little more dressed up.” In response, Miller covered her loungewear in botanical prints or leopard spots for added oomph. On the back of the gamine model Mariana Zaragoza such pieces felt ideal for Gen Z, but those who entered the world before the advent of social media will also see the collection’s charm.
An all-black boiler suit and tube-top combination and the tiered lavender ombré dress have enough flair to appeal to all ages.
22 December 2020
Strip away their ceremony and weddings are all about reinvention, a promising start to a new life. Bridalwear serves as the most potent symbol of that concept, whether it is showcased in a chapel or at the end of a couture show. For Nicole Miller, her archive of wedding dresses from years past served as the starting point for a spring collection centered on inventive repurposing of existing materials. In the middle of quarantine, Miller took several stately white gowns and dip-dyed them in pastel shades of pink and cream. Layered beneath ombré sweatshirts or worn with military jackets, the pieces were stripped of their matrimonial associations and given a playful new verve.The political unrest and youth protest of 2020 had Miller thinking about the late ’60s to mid-’70s when America underwent sweeping social change. The parallels between the era’s counterculture movements and the current antiestablishment sentiment have been outlined in essays and think pieces galore, but Miller showcased the juxtaposition with needle and thread. There were tiered maxidresses, boho blouses for millennial hippies, and a subtle take on the flower crown. The modish A-line dresses covered in a groovy print could have been plucked from Goldie Hawn’sLaugh-Indressing room.Those interested in the “Me” decade were given patchwork leather skirts and upcycled rompers crafted from pieces of surplus jackets. A foray into disco luxury was noticeably absent, but the retro deep dive was accurate enough to elicit déjà vu. Miller leaned into that aspect with an eerily convincing photograph of the Chateau Marmont and its unmistakable William Douglas Lee arches serving as the collection’s backdrop. The references may have been old-school, but the use of deadstock, recycled fabrics, and sustainable materials kept things rooted in modernity.
9 October 2020
Calamity is a good reason to hit the reset button. When Nicole Miller began work on resort, the world had gone dormant. New York closed shop, her usual roster of factories and suppliers were closed indefinitely, and the brand’s team had spread out across the United States while social distancing with their families. Rather than lament any of these changes, Miller got creative and infused her collection with a DIY sensibility. Bohemian cool girls who make their clothes by hand are eternal muses, but who has the time to do all that? Miller’s patchwork denim jackets—the result of combining the waistbands of multiple vintage pairs—channel that sensibility. Likewise, the punchy blue tie-dye that features on cable-knit sweaters and slip dresses owes its existence to snail mail. Assistants dyed pieces in their respective homes then posted them back to New York for the designer’s inspection.Such resourcefulness gave the collection an energetic feel. Filled with lightweight dresses in paisley and floral prints, it reflects the ease of wear Miller feels women desire at present. “People are going to want short, effortless dresses,” she shared over Zoom. “The kind you can wear over pants and under sweaters.” Another potentially coveted item: jumpsuits, an army green “Eagle Scout” version provided one-and-done simplicity. Separates were plentiful with drawstring-accented trousers and embroidered sweatshirts serving as standouts, but the core concept was maximum impact with minimal effort. The idea that you can pop on a single piece and head out the door.One such element came with a bit of history. After perusing her archives, Miller happened upon the handmade cowboy boots of Rocketbuster founder Nevena Christi, a former colleague who now creates custom Western-wear beloved by Taylor Swift and Julia Roberts. “We had some vintage ones from the first show she did with us back in the ’90s, then I texted her and asked if she had anything that could work with this collection,” Miller explained. When they were paired with the clothes, the look reminded Miller of a picturesque “Victorian Western” themed wedding she’d recently attended. After months of yoga pants and pajamas, that kind of accessibly chic look is sure to have appeal.
24 July 2020
It was Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s departure from the royal family, of all things, that sparked Nicole Miller’s latest collection, shown at Spring Studios this afternoon. “It started out about the rebellious royals, because they were just so much in the press, and I thought it was hilarious that they were all being such renegades,” Miller said backstage, surrounded by friends and colleagues sipping on her namesake rose.Miller stitched this idea of rebellious royalty explicitly into some of the pieces—she embroidered little illustrations of crowns onto leather jackets and pinstripe blazers—but she expanded the general concept of English rebellion to encompass its more conventional cultural connotation: British rock stars of the 1970s. Miller named the collection “Rock’n’Royalty,” and she tempered labyrinth-printed bell-sleeved frocks and paisley velveteen miniskirts with black leather jumpsuits and spoofs on tuxedo shirts.She also described the collection as an ode of sorts to David Bowie, the epitome of British rock-and-roll idiosyncrasy. Miller referenced the character Bowie plays in Nicolas Roeg’sThe Man Who Fell to Earth, an alien who’s come to Earth to try to transport water back to his home planet. “I thought it was timely like that,” she said, alluding to our current environmental crisis.Miller’s gender-bending runway was also spiritually indebted to Bowie’s legacy. Miller has made menswear collections before, but this was her first time sending men down the runway as part of her womenswear show. Male models debuted floral-printed, flared denim jeans and leopard-print cocoon coats alongside other unisex pieces (Miller said she originally tried to work in a few men in dresses, but she had them wear more gender-neutral clothes in the end). It’s an experiment which shows that even decades into her career, Miller’s still trying to shake things up.
9 February 2020
No one appreciates a good juxtaposition more than Nicole Miller. The designer, who frequently takes disparate elements and distills them into a collection theme, found herself looking to the flatlands of contemporary Arizona and the swinging music scene of Europe in the 1960s. Her muses Patti Boyd and Françoise Hardy may never have set foot in Phoenix, but that’s of little concern; Miller’s seasonal hot take made for a compellingwhat if.The idea of Hardy and her ilk roaming through the Biltmore Hotel was a punchy visual. Model Heidi Mount carried the concept into reality, lending a worldliness to pieces that could have skewed youthful. Sure, a Gen-Z beauty could easily pull off the mod minidress with a zippered slit, but so could her sister or aunt. Miller broadened her reach here, appealing to a crowd sure to get her references and to young people for whom the idea of flower child sundresses is a wholly new concept.Modern concerns elevated Miller’s retro moment, and pieces crafted with recycled fabrics were some of the collection’s most exciting. Mixed print black-and-white separates decorated with checks and crosshatch demanded attention, as did the embroidery embellished dresses that took the swinging look into evening territory.
16 December 2019
Nicole Miller made the most of her recent trip to Tokyo. It’s hard not to be inspired when you’re in Japan’s capital, but Miller’s observations were informed by the events of her last trip nearly 20 years ago. “I started my journey there, but now Tokyo feels new and familiar at the same time,” said Miller, who dubbed the collection Lost and Found in honor of that feeling of déjà vu.The habutai silk textures and shapes that nodded to the kimono reflected the inspiration, but it wasn’t a straightforward homage. Miller thrives on assemblage—mixing and matching patterns and references into flirty ready-to-wear. This time around, she added touches of ’90s boho and French-girl chic into the mix. “I realized how much I love Japanese art, but then I found these vintage Air France posters advertising [a trip from] Paris to Tokyo,” explained Miller. “I worked a little bit of the French influence in there too.”After several seasons of youthful insouciance, Miller’s girl hit a growth spurt. The standout pieces displayed sophistication. Sure, you could pair the georgette wrap dress on Pat Cleveland with a pair of Doc Martens and hit the club, but the piece was also fit for a grown-up date night. A series of patchwork dresses, some asymmetrical and covered in beading, others delicate slips, proved strong, as did kimono-inspired minidresses with billowing sleeves.The collection’s maturity was reflected in its casting. The presence of veteran models Cleveland, Veronica Webb, Frederique van der Wal, Claudia Mason, and Patricia Velásquez added a thrill for fashion nerds. For Miller, the presence of women she’s known for decades, many of whom appeared on her earliest runways, brought the experience full circle. “I have a personal connection with all of them,” she said. “Pat Cleveland was the first model I met in New York when I was interning for Clovis Ruffin; Veronica walked my very first show. The entire collection is past and present brought together—old meets new—so it felt right.”
9 September 2019
The termgarden partycomes with a specific set of associations. For her Resort 2020 collection, Nicole Miller wanted to update the idea. Prim fashion has its place, but Miller is more interested in the ever-evolving wardrobes of New York’s downtown girls. This season that meant an exploration of florals, leopard prints, and, oddly enough, take-out bags; Miller paid homage to the ubiquitous “Have a Nice Day” plastic totes familiar to anyone who has ever visited a bodega by splashing their messaging onto loose tanks and the backs of denim jackets. The plastic reference came with an environmental message. Miller’s interest in sustainability was the impetus behind recent pieces like Fall’s upcycled cashmere sweaters; here she couldn’t resist giving the recycling logo its own shout-out via a gauzy singlet.Symbols aside, the collection’s focus was florals. Asymmetrical skirts, ruched dresses, and cropped jumpsuits featured all manner of flowers from oversized roses to a vintage print straight out of the archives. The latter came courtesy of a longtime client who’d preserved pieces from Miller’s first collections for decades and reached out to the designer. “She had saved all these dresses from the 1980s, and back then what I was designing was so big with shoulder pads and oversized proportions,” Miller said at her garment district headquarters. “She gave us 12 or so pieces, and it just felt right to include one of the prints in this collection—this time on a streamlined look.”Blooms are always cheerful, but Miller mixed things up to add visual interest. Some pairings were more successful than others—a reversible leopard-and-rose quilted overcoat provided an appealing transition piece—but the styles were uniformly upbeat. Brief forays into glittering leopard spots and denim on denim provided moments of contrast and a glimpse at how real women will be wearing things. Fail-safe outfits like a slinky sequin slip dress paired with a boyfriend blouse or a frayed-hem jean jacket layered atop a long skirt connect with the way women style themselves for garden parties and beyond.
13 June 2019
The balance between sustainability and fun is one of the most essential considerations designers have to tackle. Everyone wants their collections to maintain levity, but with fashion as one of the world’s biggest waste producers, creation comes with responsibility. This season, Nicole Miller worked to retain the fun of her collection while infusing it with commentary about the issues relevant to her consumers. Modern girls deal with a lot, and everything from environmental awareness to astrology found its way into Miller’s Fall messaging. “I started out with a sustainable approach, and [I was] trying to redo vintage things, but it just evolved from there,” shared Miller backstage. “These are [concerns] in everybody’s life that we’re all dealing with.”Upcycled cashmere sweaters served as a starting point. Tie-dyed and embellished with sequins, they offered a youthful twist on the wardrobe staple. Astrology symbols were embroidered onto silk blouses and dresses with built-in evil-eye talismans. Leather jackets and oversize blazers had a borrowed-from-the-boys quality, but the addition of slogan-covered patches tempered their toughness. There was a Generation X vibe that carried through the collection, from its use of grunge redux plaids to the combat boots and black beanies that provided the final touches on models’ looks.The 1990s were great, but Miller kept things modern via fabrication. Plush faux fur on cuffs and the hems of skirts plus a finale series of sequin- and bead-embellished pieces that could easily transition from the concert venue to the red carpet were especially appealing. Add to this the introduction of denim made from recycled soda bottles and a forthcoming set of anti-plastic T-shirts, and Miller’s vision for Fall felt utterly of the moment. “The impetus for the collection took me in a different direction, but, through that, I was able to find the balance,” said Miller. “I feel like I’m doing my part; we’re getting the message across.”
8 February 2019
For Nicole Miller, Pre-Fall began with Alyona Subbotina, the platinum-haired model and skydiver who stars in the season’s lookbook. Impressed by Subbotina’s innate style and fearless personality, Miller came up with a collection of cool-girl staples made interesting via individualist twists. Tried-and-true camouflage was dotted with tiny pastel flowers for a touch of femininity, while leopard prints were given rosy blooms with a watercolor effect. Printed on long tunics with ruffle details and gauzy slipdresses, these patterns made for pretty transition pieces ideal for layering under Miller’s oversize olive leather bombers or chunky sweatshirts.A casual vibe ran through the majority of the collection, but Miller’s best moments came by way of the pieces that pushed things into formal territory. Floral prints detailed with micro sequins on a flapper-style dress featuring an asymmetrical hem made for an appealing foray into retro glamour.
7 December 2018
Even those who didn’t live through the golden age of the club kid can appreciate a throwback. When Nicole Miller was brainstorming ideas for her latest collection, her assistants—most of whom were born long after the Regan era ended—expressed an affinity for ’80s-era pieces within her vintage archives, a fact Miller found intriguing. “We were looking at club kids and reminiscing about those days, and it just evolved,” shared Miller backstage. “They weren’t around for those days, but they’re always like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to do that again,’ so the [concept] was propelled forward by my staff.”The look back allowed Miller to revisit some of her greatest hits. Dubbing it the “by popular demand” collection, she focused on bringing back several pieces her audience had actively requested over the years. Taking the sequined camouflage prints she popularized in the 1990s and offering them in modern silhouettes, she created slip dresses and flared pants that felt of the minute. Silk print dresses with dolman sleeves and delicate flowers from a 1980 collection made an appearance beneath orchid-covered bomber jackets and layers of chunky silver necklaces, while models wore customized versions of old-school Converse platforms.Everything old is new again, but it wasn’t just a trip down memory lane. Adding in several new elements, including twill coats covered in randomly generated words, color-blocked minis, and shredded denim toppers with a sequin sparkle, Miller gave her fans something fresh to appreciate—especially if they’ve already got the original versions of her remixed hits in their wardrobes.
7 September 2018
Resort finds Nicole Miller in the mood to experiment. “It was a real hodgepodge of eclectic elements,” shared Miller at the Metal Shutter Houses, a Chelsea art space that served as her presentation’s backdrop. “We took a bunch of confusing things that didn’t go together, but we made them go together.” Adapting the idea into a series of fail-safe outfits, she simplified the whimsical style made famous by street style photographs. In fact, the lookbook model—blogger Natalie Lim Suarez, aka Natalie Off Duty—is something of a street style star herself.With striped pants and matching blouses offering a sporty take on pajama dressing and hand-drawn prints providing a splash of color on bomber jackets, the energy was youthful. Asymmetrical skirts with hemlines that appeared to float and jeans with sketches of belts drawn onto the fabric looked like crowd-pleasers. Miller’s wares may seem ready-made for online It girls, but the freewheeling mood of the collection means its appeal should go beyond the Internet. More grown-up dresses were enlivened with brushstroke patterns in shades of citron and jade.
11 June 2018
Anyone expecting Nicole Miller to present one of her famous themed collections for Fall was in for a surprise this season. In the past, the designer has taken her audience on sartorial trips to Panama, Scandinavia, and Brooklyn, but this time around Miller opted for the freedom of working without restraint. Inspired by the needs of modern women instead of a particular destination, she focused her attention on developing looks that cool girls can wear regularly. “Sometimes girls want to borrow from the guys; other times they want to dress more feminine. There are some florals, but we have touches that are taken from menswear or military uniforms too,” shared Miller pre-show. “Gone are the days where you’d have to wear a dress to the office every day.”Starting with tailored suiting, leather jackets, and streamlined silhouettes, Miller dedicated a segment of her show to pared-down looks suitable for casual Fridays. Double-breasted crepe pantsuits and boyfriend jackets paired with silk blouses are great for work, but Millers’s girl knows how to cut loose too. The majority of the collection skewed girly with a touch of grunge; oversize plaid dresses peeked out beneath tangerine puffers, camo miniskirts contrasted with glossy raincoats, and eagle prints added charm to flirty pleated dresses. In lace-up high boots and a black leather mini, Jazzelle Zanaughtti embodied the season’s androgynous muse, but the collection’s edginess gave way to something softer. Finishing with a round of cheerful flower prints worn head-to-toe in clashing blocks of color followed by patch-covered dresses with transparent overlay, Miller ended things on an optimistic note.
11 February 2018
Nicole Miller knows better than to fall too deeply into a nostalgia spiral. After discovering a veritable treasure trove of vintageHolidaymagazines in her parents’ attic, Miller didn’t channel dated ’60s silhouettes or souvenir jackets as other designers might have done. Instead, she merged the idea of travel with already trendy concepts. Bright, fun florals happily clashed on day-to-evening dresses, while a leather moto jacket came with straps so it can be worn off-the-shoulder. Jeans were slim, dresses were flirty, and everything had a real-world ease to it. This strain of no-fuss fashion has become Miller’s calling card of late; buy one of her items and you have a guarantee that you’ll look of-the-moment and be comfortable too.That might sound like a slight, but real clothes for real people are really in right now. (See the proliferation of leggings, athleisure, hoodies, blazers, et cetera on the runways.) With that in mind, it would serve the brand to stop hunting for big, broad seasonal themes and instead focus that energy on developing its core offering further. Those mash-up floral dresses are candy for women of all ages, occupations, and obsessions. What was less successful was a series of cargo jackets and skirts with beaded airplane embroideries or a passport-stamp print dress. Any woman would trade dressing like an airplane for having something chic to wear on an airplane in an instant.
6 December 2017
Feeling down about 2017? Nicole Miller may have the antidote. With the state of the world increasingly perilous, designers are infusing their collections with optimism, and this season Miller provided fans with a cheerful journey. Looking to the John Ford classicMogambo, she envisioned a tropical safari as undertaken by It girls. With Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly fighting over a game-hunting Clark Gable while making their way through the then–French Congo, the film is filled with stunning Helen Rose costumes completely unsuitable for the climate or the terrain. Still, there’s no denying their wow factor. Miller offered her audience the modernized version of that conceit with trompe l’oeil prints, jumpsuits, and combat boots aplenty. “It’s sort of a city girl out in the wilds, and she’s packed her high heels and jewelry,” said Miller before her presentation atop the Gramercy Park Hotel. “I wanted it to have a lot of spirit and be upbeat. Clothes are emotional; you want someone to get excited about them.”Safari themes can often verge into colonialist territory, but Miller avoided that pitfall by going playful. Adding drawings of parrots and oversize butterflies to leopard print gave her dresses a girlish quality, and floral embroidery made even studded leather jackets seem sweet. Canteen-shape purses and the venue’s lush backdrop of tropical plants added to the fanciful atmosphere. Of course it wasn’t all caprice; working ruffles into knee-length skirts and adding D-rings to crisp blouses, Miller provided touches that even those who’ve outgrown flights of fancy can appreciate.
8 September 2017
While other designers travel far and wide for their Resort show locales, Nicole Miller simply crossed the Brooklyn Bridge for one of the loveliest settings of the season. In the shadow of Manhattan skyscrapers and under a clear blue sky, Miller took over Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. There, model Zhenya Katava perched on carousel horses like a princess while guests sipped Sofia Brut Rosé and snacked on freshly popped popcorn. It wasn’t Kyoto, but then again, as a New Yorker through and through, Miller knows the city has a scene for every spirit.For Resort, she was looking at the contrast between the loveliness of the florals and laces that have made her famous for occasionwear and the graphic lines of New York City. That hard/soft contrast is a well-trod theme, but Miller has a certain clever kitsch and affinity for bold prints that made this experiment work. Some of her best looks were comprised of a bright teal-and-pink floral print cut with black lines or a muted leopard spliced with an elegant coral print. This collage of prints was translated into textures too, with a black lace made with denim flowers and a textural star appliqué fabric that was cut into flirty dresses. Daywear, ever an expanding category, was comprised of free-spirited pajama separates like front-slit trousers and effortless silky shirts. They’re the sorts of things that look quite nice in the breeze of a twirling carousel.
14 June 2017
The mandate forNicole Miller’s Fall 2017 show: “gypsy grunge.”The designer mined the grittier side of New York City for inspiration: She may live in tony Tribeca, but it was St. Mark's Place that got her creative fires going this season. Prints came laced with barbed-wire, chains, and skulls. Some of the freshest looks—a series of dresses and skirts—were embellished with rhinestone evil eyes, evoking the city’s sidewalk psychics. Other pieces—like a leather skirt with the wordtattooprinted on it—felt a little on the nose, but still had a certain kitsch appeal.Miller played well with proportions and volume; the puff-sleeve dresses, particularly in velvet, felt fresh and lived up to what the shownotes promised would be a “modern take on grunge.”
10 February 2017
Nicole Millerhas been in the fashion business long enough to see trends come, go, and come back again. That puts her in the special position of being able to mine her own archive as the fashion pendulum swings back to the late ’80s and early ’90s. For Pre-Fall, Miller looked at silhouettes and prints she made in those decades, giving them just the right amount of modernization. Among the styles she revived is a short, Cindy Crawford–worthy slip dress in black with oversize patches throughout. The original version had smaller NASCAR patches; today’s comes with larger emoji-like yin and yangs and snakes. The good news is that much like the year 1986, 2016 has a Crawford on the rise to wear it: Cindy’s daughter, Kaia Gerber. The irony of this, of course, is that the girls who will be enthralled by such slips and pouf-sleeved leather jackets weren’t there to try out the look the first time around. (And maybe if they had been, they’d be less inclined to shop the reboot.) Elsewhere in the collection were prints of all strokes: safety pins, neon signs, grungy tartan, and a floral with trompe l’oeil tears.The harder edge this season might feel slightly jarring in the continuum of Miller’s recent offerings, which have veered toward the pretty and flitty, but you have to commend her for knowing when to move on. “I’m done with boho!” she said with a laugh at her lookbook shoot at Daredevil Tattoo on the Lower East Side. Around the corner from the garment racks was an artist warming up his tattoo gun. “Do you want to get a tattoo or a piercing?” inquired the PR. For this millennial, a tattoo-print skirt would do just fine, thank you.
13 December 2016
Nicole Miller’s springtime approach found its origins in Panama—specifically Panamanian heritage. “I was visiting a gallery that was exhibiting this art,” said the designer. “They had a collection of vintage molas that were absolutely beautiful. I bought them to frame, but then decided they would make beautiful fabric and embroidery.” Molas are colorfully sewn panels that make up parts of the outfits traditionally worn by the Kuna women of Colombia and Panama.Miller took the cue and cut it into varied, versatile silhouettes. One dress, threaded allover with polychromatic geometries typical of mola style (some believe molas originated with the art of body-painting), was long and sleek. Another had a tight plunging neck but a flowing, flapping knee-length body. “I love contrasts, and working with this Panamanian concept while trying to modernize it,” said Miller.There were some misses, such as when she skewed too bohemian with an ill-fitting jean jacket replete with frayed edges and embellished cuffs. When Miller stuck to the clean and streamlined, though, as with the aforementioned dresses, or an off-the-shoulder option in black with similar embroidery, she succeeded in tapping that modernity.
9 September 2016
Ruffles, ribbons, and cut-out shoulders are by and away the breakaway trends of the season if not the year, and there’s no shortage of them in the Resort collections.Nicole Millerincludes all in her latest offering—plus knife pleats and semi-sheer lace dresses. The trend-obsessed will be pleased, but lucky for Miller, the zeitgeist-y items fit well within her own flirty and fun aesthetic. Add to that her choice to avoid tired inspiration traps of Latin flair or prairie maidens, and Miller’s take on the year’s It items feels quite fresh.Resort found her looking towards Art Nouveau graphics, reimagining William Morris’s florals as winding patterns on marigold, coral, or pale blue backgrounds. An off-the-shoulder dress in the print with black banding around the waist is lovely, as are her fluttering miniskirts and body-con dresses with contrasting flounces at the hem. “I wanted it to feel whimsical, fun, and soft,” the designer said. A tiered romper—look 17—hits all those notes. The same can’t be said for some stretch linen pieces with black detailing that seem directly opposed to the airy fairy vibe of the rest of the collection. Granted, even a spritely girl has to go to work some days. If that’s the case, I’d advise her to reach for the bathrobe-like crepe trench from look 14.
11 June 2016
The hashtag onNicole Miller’s show notes today—#nmGoNorth—hit home, given the deep freeze we’re about to incur here in NYC. For Fall, the designer was “thinking about nostalgia for winter,’ and in doing so she looked to Nordic aesthetics, including Scandinavian topography and ceramics. (Let’s see if she retains those fond memories of the season after tomorrow.)In Miller’s proven way, those faraway ideas were distilled into a mainstream boil—despite feeling the cold, her collection was literally smoking, with fog on the runway and models who stomped through the room at an Iditarod pace. Outerwear played a role in her story—a jacket made of distressed denim and sleeved with decorative ribbons was the lineup’s most fashion-forward piece, and a definite high point. Dresses came long and layered and mostly in dark color ways; some held a rakish bohemian sensibility that could distantly be called Miller’s version ofHedi Slimane’sSaint Laurent. And there were lots of separates: “Sportswear is an increasingly strong part of our business,” said Miller. While most of the ideas here have been seen plenty of times before, the product and its clout were solid, and Miller fans will be satiated.
12 February 2016
Chances are the bulk ofNicole Miller’s clients are a few decades shy of the Summer of Love, but for Pre-Fall, the designer embraced an aesthetic of what she dubbed “modern-day Woodstock,” teaming a youthful take on bohemia with utilitarian touches. That late-’60s influence ended up being a relatively soft-spoken one, palpable largely in prints like a somewhat lurid, kaleidoscopic floral and what Miller dubbed “acid plaid,” a cool, distorted tartan. There were floor-grazing maxi skirts in a metallic camouflage jacquard, undeniably fun and downright modish when teamed with one of the designer’s cold-shoulder sweaters. Some pieces here might have stood to be left on the cutting-room floor, such as a field jacket in metallic copper leather; it clouded the message at hand a bit.Miller’s strongest propositions were sweet and unfussy. A relatively demure sheath, for example, came with two zippered vents at the front that (in addition to adding edge) could transform the style to an A-line—utility at its finest.
11 December 2015
Nicole Millerdidn’t have to look too far for inspiration this season. “I kind of became obsessed with the grate pattern you see on loading gates,” said the designer, who had cast her eye about and found a petri dish of inspiration in her urban surroundings.“I took a lot of things very literally from the street,” she said. No kidding: One of the recurring prints was of a brick wall plastered with graffiti, and the diamond grate motif popped up on denim and dresses, and also informed a few sexy cutouts. “I wanted it to have the grit of New York,” explained Miller.Grittyis not a word usually used to describe her brand, and its introduction here may not be appreciated by Miller’s core customers. However, they’ll find plenty to love in the sheath dresses and sequin maxi gowns—whether they’re fans of graffiti or not.Some of the strongest pieces referenced other types of painting—less St. Marks Place street art and more Jackson Pollock. Indeed, a black and white splatter print that appeared on handbags and denim instantly recalled the artist. Other standouts included a white sheath dress embroidered with colorful scribbles, and a white organza shift with brick-like embroidery and flower paillette appliqués. This is where the collection hit its stride: when Miller got to what she does best (pretty, flattering dresses) and left most of the grit on the New York City sidewalks.
11 September 2015
The irony of the Resort collections, of course, is that they drop in stores in the dead of winter. "Nobody goes away in January, but you're thinking about the tropics," Nicole Miller reasoned on a recent afternoon. To that end, her look this season was tropically inspired city clothes—things that work when there's no beach in sight, but sand and surf are very much on the mind.That meant two-tiered jackets and blouses in black or blue for work and off-the-shoulder ruffled dresses—printed with black-and-white bird-of-paradise or zebra stripes—for fun, with plenty of variations mixed in. There were bow-shoulder blouses, knits intarsia-ed with blown-out palm trees, and power-stretch dresses with asymmetrical ruffled hems. Miller had fun with wide-leg, cropped-pant jumpsuits and a cotton-metal-stretch fabric that was printed again with bird-of-paradise onto a wiggle dress. It was a tight collection in that it incorporated the things Miller loves—black, sparkle, nature motifs—without going too deep down an inspiration wormhole.
11 June 2015
Fashion people are always bragging about loving weird, nerdy stuff, but Nicole Miller actually put her money where her mouth is on Friday night by showing a collection inspired by mythic arts illustrations. (You know, the eerily drawn scenes from folklore, fairy tales, and books likeThe Lord of the Rings.) Patrick Arrasmith's art forThe Last Apprenticeand Alan Lee’s forThe Hobbitwere top of mind. "I wanted to do the dark forest, but go deeper than that," said Miller backstage. "It was about fantasy."Miller likes to mix up prints, and much of the runway was dedicated to the act. A silk blouse patchworked with digitized forest and crystal prints was paired with a rainbow-printed leather skirt, and a camo blazer was punched up with floral side panels. The hard-core mythic arts lovers will be into the forest green gown embroidered with all sorts of animals from that world—including serpents, hummingbirds, and tigers—while those after something more romantic will like the appliquéd vine embroidery on a crepe top and skirt. Some of the best looks, though, had zero embellishments, like a new take on Miller's popular ruched dress. This time it was done in a purplish pink, with wire inserted into the neckline to give it a molded shape. Wonderfully weird? Maybe not. But it was definitely pretty.
13 February 2015
"I call it my magic carpet ride," said Nicole Miller of her tapestry-heavy Pre-Fall effort. Corded bell-bottoms, unlined tweed jackets, brocade blazers, and georgette dresses with beaded appliqués all contributed to the I-just-bought-up-the-souk feeling. There was a beaded "hippie" vest, a little cropped jacket made out of felted rainbow yarn, and a leather T-shirt trimmed in chain mail with petit point details. The outfits were so colorful and layered up—topped off with tassel necklaces designed by Laurette Kittle of Walker&Wade—that their beauty was in the excess. Unpacked, though, each piece did its job. Miller likes a bohemian look that's a little tough, too, and the distressing she brought to some of the separates gave them the necessary roughness.
11 December 2014
The 2014 World Cup may be done and gone, but Rio de Janeiro lives forever in Nicole Miller's heart. "I have some great memories," she said backstage of her multiple trips over the years to the wild Brazilian city. Her Spring 2015 ode included a runway made to look like Copacabana's Portuguese pavement sidewalk: a wavy black-and-white stripe that showed up on a side-slit pencil skirt and a belted trench, too.The opening look—a crepe ruffle-hem dress with a cross front—was one of the strongest, thanks to its playful silhouette and enticing tropical floral print rendered in shades of peach, jade, and coral. There were plenty more prints, including a fractured design Miller called "origami pineapple," which looked especially dynamic printed on a pair of high-rise single-pleat linen shorts. They were worn with a white poplin shirt, its wide sleeves hitting just below the elbow. Miller played quite a bit with ruffles, sewing them onto the hems of skinny skirts and stretchy, body-con dresses. (She made a point of minimizing pouf, though. These ruffles were flippy, not froufrou.)A French version of Peter Allen's "I Go to Rio" played during the finale as models made the final walk with vintage suitcases in their grip. At that point, the primary urge was to book a ticket.
5 September 2014
Nicole Miller likes to go poking around online for vintage. Recently, she unearthed a groovy Hawaiian shirtdress that became the jumping-off point for her Resort collection. "Hawaiian mod," is what she called the results.Miller executed her vision quite nicely. A palm-tree-printed camp shirt was updated with a keyhole back, as was a silk sweatshirt printed with a motif inspired by a vintage surfboard. A formfitting striped tank dress was just a little bit sixties, while the rash-guard-inspired tops—one paired with a sarong skirt in a Hawaiian floral—added a true surf element. Unsurprisingly, Miller used plenty of neoprene, which she said continues to sell well. But she also cleverly fashioned what is essentially girdle fabric into some of the more body-conscious styles. Printed sneakers with espadrille detailing casually finished off each look.Wakeboarding happens to be a hobby of Miller's, which is fitting for the season. While these pieces might be too precious for the ocean, they certainly capture the right feeling.
3 June 2014
Scandal's "The Warrior" was the only song that could rightfully close Nicole Millers Fall show, given that she looked to a collection of female heroes, including Japanese animes Princess Mononoke, to inform Fall. Independent women who dont need a business suit to feel strong" were the target, and with a series of all-black looks, she was right on it. A double-faced black coat, paired with etched leather pants, and a black leather biker jacket, worn over a neoprene miniskirt marked with feathers fastened to crystals, offered a tough girl her rightful armor.Miller is skilled at executing on whatever her vision is for the season—not one piece felt out of place in the lineup. But there was a certain aggression to the clothes that could prove a challenge. A peacock-feather design felt too literal, a faux-leather jacket with heavily beaded sleeves too weighty. The designer would have benefited from paring back, even just a bit.
7 February 2014
Boho-Chic is the name of Nicole Miller's Pre-Fall game. She looked to the 1974 bookNative Funk & Flashfor inspiration, along with the more recentHippie Chic,based on this past summer's exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. But the results didn't feel like an archive. Instead, Miller used styles that were popular in the nineties—slipdresses, skinny T-shirts, lots and lots of plaid—to add some funk. "I wanted it be about the individual, to give her lots of different options," Miller said. She did that without going too far off track. Despite the seemingly endless combination of embellishments, from beaded plaid chiffon tops and pants to Indian embroidery on skirts and blouses, it all threaded together nicely, in a magpie sort of way. A standout piece was a plaid cropped top decorated with fabric flowers. It was a lot, but not too much.
10 December 2013
Nicole Miller was talking about a revolution. Backstage before her show, the designer said she'd been inspired by Versailles, first by the estate's over-the-top gardens and intricate mazes, and then by the thought of fed-up peasant women storming the chateau and breaking all of the monarchy's awesome china. A print emerged—shards of broken dishware scattered among flowers. Embellishments followed—beading that resembled the swooping tiers of a grand chandelier. A slew of skinny, embroidery-embellished jeans and below-the-knee pencil skirts established the silhouette, while accented seams and figure-flattering prints, some echoing Versailles' geometric garden paths, contributed to the curve-con effect. A black neoprene skirt, pleated in the back and sequin-encrusted in the front, was worn with a pale silk shell also loaded with colorful sequins. That may sound like a lot of look, but the gems were artfully arranged. Resembling shards of broken glass, they created a clean angularity and a pleasing, graphic sharpness. Elsewhere, the bling on a fringed tank was heavy enough to cause the shirt to droop. Paired with a blousy pleated skirt, it lacked the oomph of earlier, curvier looks. There was a riot of colors and embellishments here, but also plenty of solid, standout pieces to start a wardrobe revolution of one's own.
5 September 2013
"It all started in the desert," Nicole Miller said at her lookbook shoot today. "We were horseback riding [at a spa retreat near Phoenix] and there were lots of snakes around. Riding in the sand, the sun is always flashing at you, so I wanted to do something reflective."What emerged is a collection of desert-ready tops and bottoms, many embroidered with opalescent sequins and mirrors, others Westernized with a python print. The clothes were more casual than one has come to expect from Miller, who has been on something of a run lately, thanks to formfitting, ruched-just-right wiggle dresses that look as good on a member of theRevengecast as they do on a style-conscious lawyer. But as mentioned, other than a few sequin-accented cocktail dresses—each with a nipped-in waist and easy A-line shape—the focus was on separates.The super-stretchy legging pant done in a moody "Joshua Tree" digital print felt as chic and sporty as neoprene, but without the requisite heaviness. A cream silk bomber jacket looked light and versatile—as good for throwing over a printed tee as a ball gown. While some of the mirrored pieces didn't have the Nicole Miller sophistication, a cream silk tee studded with light reflectors delivered the message she was aiming to get across.
3 June 2013
Bear with me, because I'd like to begin this review with a few words about flashing lights. If I recall correctly, several years ago there was a news report about a Japanese cartoon so frenetic it induced seizures. Today, waiting for the Nicole Miller show to start, I found myself in deep sympathy with those seizure victims: I'm not sure who was sitting across the runway from me in Miller's front row, because I was half-blind by the time the scrum of paparazzi cleared. But whoever it was, they inspired sickening amounts of wattage. Anyway, I mention this because, for most of Miller's show, I had a profound headache and could barely force my eyes to look at the clothes. Whatever the point of fashion week may be, I could have sworn that looking at clothes was central to it. Then again, who knows. At any rate, feel free to take this review of the Nicole Miller Fall '13 collection with a grain of salt.The theme this time out was menswear, and more specifically, girls wearing their boyfriends' clothes. These imaginary boyfriends apparently sing lead in glam rock bands and have closets filled with orchestra jackets, fur vests, silk tattoo-print blouses, sheer button-downs trimmed in floral burnout velvet, and wallpaper-patterned coats. I'd like to meet that guy; I think his name is Russell Brand. And like Brand, this collection was a bit silly. There were some good-looking pieces though—the wallpaper-patterned trenchcoat was one, in fact, and Miller made fine use of the same print in a soft silk gown with trenchcoat lapels. A leather-trimmed tuxedo jacket and motorcyle jacket with a front panel of ponyskin were both sharply done, and a V-neck black cocktail dress of layered georgette was a flat-out winner. Meanwhile, Miller let her best idea this season die on the vine—there was a terrific lean suit of patchwork denim and black jacquard, and that theme should have been more fully elaborated. As it was, however, this collection came off as something of a jumble, as though that girl raiding her boyfriend's closet were doing it with her eyes closed. Maybe because she'd just been attacked by flashbulbs.
7 February 2013
The hallucinogenic hues and beach-y neons from her recent Spring and Resort collections had Nicole Miller feeling like it was time for a palette cleanser. For pre-fall, she designed a lineup entirely in black and ivory. But where there was a lack of color, Miller made up for it with prints and embellishments. A number of separates featured a geometric "pianoforte" pattern, while others were done in a burnout giraffe and kaleidoscope motif. Plaid was also on hand, turning up on a lightweight tunic and dress, the latter of which was trimmed in leather. Intricate beadwork and chain details appeared throughout, most notably on a series of T-shirts—one of which was paired with a pony-hair miniskirt—and on the sleeves of sleek black dresses. "I design for the uptown, downtown girl," Miller said. "So she always has feminine style but with a tough edge." The collection's outerwear was its strongpoint. A black denim blazer with leather panels and nailhead studs, and a raffia moto jacket with tweed sleeves will serve Miller's girl well.
17 December 2012
Nicole Miller is no stranger to New York's social scene. It's a bit harder to imagine her in a muddy field at an early-nineties rave. But here they were in her latest collection: prints that riffed on glow sticks. If the rave references weren't particularly deep, you can't deny Miller always seems to be having fun with her clothes. It's an attitude that's rather infectious; she wants her clientele to have fun, too—this season, wearing leggings in digital acid trails prints and little black dresses detailed with broken strands of hallucinogenic color. Meanwhile, Miller's adapted biker jackets and chiffon tunics with trailing back hems were straightforwardly attractive, which is likely sufficient for women looking for smart, updated clothes, who don't give a damn about references.
6 September 2012
Nicole Miller let a recent trip to Belize guide her latest Resort collection. To fully achieve the vintage beach vibe, she turned to tie dye, ikat prints, and graphic images of palm trees and sunsets, with a little patchwork and beaded embellishment for a touch of modern "bling." The silhouettes included chiffon and georgette maxi skirts, scuba dresses and rompers, raffia shorts, and lightweight knits. Miller was particularly psyched about an ombré brown and sand-colored pantsuit, a rad getup for a surfer chick to throw on over her bathing suit if she doesn't have time to go home between riding the waves and meeting for dinner. But the lineup's standout was a button-up denim vest covered in ethnic neon stitching and sparkly jewels. It was one of those pieces that any girl—surfer or not—would love to put on and never take off.
13 June 2012
Bell-bottoms. A-line minis. Vests. Suede, velvet, and patchwork leather. At first blush, you'd have figured that the era Nicole Miller was channeling at today's show was the Sgt. Pepper-era sixties. But not so fast: The snake of fashion reference is set to tuck into a meal of its own tail. Upon inspection, this show revealed itself to be a throwback to the nineties—specifically, that decade's thrift-shop retread of the late sixties and early seventies. Another random thought, jotted down at this evening's show: "Gack! Handkerchief hems! Gypsy sleeves! Not yet!"Still, the collection had charm, despite the bruising memories of those boho hems and sleeves. Miller updated her sixties-by-way-of-the-nineties looks with a jolting application of digital print, most appealingly in a bright tweed pixelated pattern liberally applied to velvet. Elsewhere, she did well with her minidress and shorts in patchwork leather, and with the collection's alpaca-trimmed outerwear. All in all, a pastiche, but a successful one.
9 February 2012
Nicole Miller is headed West for pre-fall. Specifically, Miller had a gun-slinging Sharon Stone in the 1995 spaghetti westernThe Quick and the Deadin mind. The designer has been collecting her friend Nick Von K's talismanic jewelry (pendants of rattlesnakes, skulls, and tumbleweeds) and thought that Von K's charms would make a great textile pattern. So Miller really drove the theme home, showing eagle-embroidered stovepipes, sundown-colored tapestry prints, and fringed cotton dresses. The outerwear was a highlight. A python-embossed leather blazer with a feathered lapel, for example, hit on the western motif but didn't come across as too costume-y. Ditto goes for the russet-colored sleeveless trench in waxed cotton. We're going to put the handful of drop-crotch looks (with a heavy emphasis on "drop") in the "miss" column, but the hand-painted dress cut from figure-flattering power net should be a hit with Miller's contemporary customer.
6 December 2011
"The speed of wheels in motion. The momentum of a skateboard shredding through the air." The program notes at this evening's Nicole Miller show had to put you on guard:Dear God, what can this designer find to plunder in skate subculture? And anyway, hasn't it been plundered enough?But as it happened, Miller found something interesting to extract: namely, speed. Her latest collection nicely captured the frenetic energy of X Games sports. It will be interesting to see what her customers make of it.The big story here was color. The show opened with a pair of leggings in a wildly bright patchwork print that was the visual equivalent of Jolt Cola. Wake up! Multi-stripe intarsia knits had a similar effect, as did the bright yellow, turquoise, and pink trim that Miller applied to a multitude of looks in black. The athletic references were a bit literal at times—bike shorts, racerbacks, neoprene—but for the most part, Miller did well by them. The world may not require another scuba dress (Miller's version came in black, with yellow appliqués), but it can always do with a bomber jacket as cool as the perforated leather one on the runway tonight, or a loose-fitting silk button-down in a blown-out check redolent of the black and white on classic Vans. In general, the show felt fresh and appropriately youthful.
8 September 2011
Has Nicole Miller gone over to the geek squad? The designer's last two shows took cues from the sci-fi cult filmGattaca, and her latest Resort collection was inspired by refracted light (a middle school science fair staple, if memory serves correctly). Turns out, though, that her visible-spectrum theme was more chic than geek. Draped dresses and tunics came in a pretty, prismatic print, and ombré pieces in rainbow colors were eye-catching even if they called for a specific kind of occasion—say, a summer music festival. Miller also added one of her best-selling metal dresses to the mix, updating it this season with an asymmetrical neckline and allover ruching.The best looks, however, were the more casual ones that borrowed from vintage menswear silhouettes: an easy, strapless jumpsuit with wide legs in silk georgette; a rugged oilcloth parka jacket with drawstring sleeves; and super-baggy, pleated trousers that were surprisingly flattering (on the skinny model, at least). The designer's favorite pants had a man-repeller trifecta going on: mid-calf, drop-crotch, and high-waisted. Miller called them her "nerdy pants," but we can think of a few cool girls who'd want to give them a trial run.
13 June 2011
Pre-collections don't necessarily function as a crystal-ball vision of what you'll see on a designer's main season runway. But for today's show, Nicole Miller essentially revealed the full-length feature to her pre-fall prequel for which she took her cues from the futuristic sci-fi flickGattacaand the clinically precise chic of Uma Thurman.Miller further developed her story with prismatic digital prints that put soft shards of color on body-hugging dresses, silk tops, and a cocoon coat. Occasionally they were glammed up with sequins. The latter is Miller's own spin on a look that undeniably recalls some goth-leaning Parisians. That jagged geometry was echoed neatly on asymmetrical bustier necklines. The darkly romantic silhouette mainly hewed to chic, attenuated layers with lean flared pants (some inset with leather), or vests that curved in front to a long point belted over wide trousers.A sci-fi depiction of days ahead is rarely rosy, but here that gloom was cushioned by the extreme protective luxury of beautiful coats and vests constructed from astrakhan; soft, thick black leather; and neoprene. A dramatic charcoal wool cape with an asymmetrical flare, for one, seemed like it could usher a heroine successfully through any kind of dystopia. At any rate, though it was swimming upstream of fashion's current joyful mood, this solid collection counts as a happy ending.
10 February 2011
After a diaphanous collection for Spring,Nicole Millerwas ready to shift gears. "Spring was so soft," she said at her studio yesterday. "I moved in a more architectural direction." She was thinking in particular of the film Gattaca, a sci-fi flick that seems to have made a bigger impression in the world of fashion than the world of cinema. Uma Thurman—the kind of girl with a boyish edge who appeals to Miller—was her muse. The little white collars Thurman wears in the movie appeared in the form of the new basic Miller proposed: a sleeveless little collared blouse.The structured lines and uniform sensibility of future-world attire mixed with the glamour and sensuality of forties references to give the collection an against-the-grain feel. In the past few seasons, Miller has proven adept at marching in lockstep with her fellow designers and delivering on trends. Here she's off on her own, even if she did create a stylish version of the wide-legged pant that's been a runway fixture for some time. The independence suited her. The silhouette she's proposing—shoulder-padded to the nines—feels fresh again. Some of her more aggressive geometric angles are a little overstated, but not a menswear-styled sleeveless blazer, worn with wide trousers and one of those collared shirts. You could see that as standard-issue for the armies of the next millennium, whether they're fightingGattaca-style genetic discrimination or waging plain old corner-office warfare.
8 December 2010
Nicole Miller found herself bang on trend for Spring. Playing with sheers? Check. Edgy nineties minimalism? Check. Neutral and moody hues? Check and check. As it happens, Miller has actually been exploring a harder-edged look for a few seasons now, and this collection was a logical, more elegant next step. The look today was attenuated and lean, with long chiffon skirts topped by long blazers and vests. Most of these tailored pieces came in technical twill or linen (on the front and sleeves) with a back panel in georgette to expose slightly bondage-y ribbon harnesses and pretty racerback tops layered underneath. At times all these moving, deconstructed parts devolved into confusion. Still, there were more than a few fresh moments. Among them: a white trapeze tank dress with zigzagging tucks; a cool, slouchy charcoal suit worn not with actual S&M straps but a smart knit that echoed them; and a simple yet modern black draped crepe dress with a lovely cowl back. Kudos to Miller for hitting on something that feels grown-up, but not boringly mature.
9 September 2010
Nicole Miller turned out plenty of military-inspired wares for Resort, but she assured us she's not just following the current trend. "I was actually inspired by how my friends and I dressed in college at RISD," the designer said. "We wore military jackets over forties-style dresses." Although she drew from the past, the drawstring cargo pants, army green cotton-lycra minidresses, and navy linen-denim dress with utility pockets gave the collection a very up-to-date feel. Miller had standard-issue jackets, too, which were paired with ruched silk frocks in prints inspired by the blown glass of artist Dale Chihuly—an alumni and past faculty member, it turns out, of Miller's alma mater.
8 June 2010
Nicole Miller went for a harder edge this season, and her models, kitted out in knit skullcaps and bunched-up legwarmers, appeared ready to take on the New York streets. Cityscapes popped up on prints, and dresses came short, dark, and ruched. The main focus, though, was on coats. Biker jackets were done in leather and wool; a resin-coated trench fell on the cheap side of shiny.The best looks were layered. One all-black outfit was especially appealing: a chiffon tunic tucked under a body-wrapping cashmere hoodie and a silk and wool jacket, worn with a pair of skinny scuba pants. It was the type of chic, I'm-not-trying outfit off-duty models always seem to nail, and Miller dished it out in several cool variations.
11 February 2010
Nicole Miller picked up on the Native American influence for pre-fall, but don't expect anything too New Age-y from this longtime New Yorker. A silk cocktail dress featured a digitalized Navajo print and metallic feather trim, while beige nubuck leather was used for a biker jacket and matching miniskirt. If a stretch denim zip-front body-con dress with frayed pintucking felt too busy for Miller's modern girl-about-town, a metal taffeta strapless cocktail number with a subtle snakeskin pattern was a charmer.
10 December 2009
"This season was more about howIdress," Nicole Miller said backstage after her Friday night show. And judging from the swarms of well-wishers who crowded in for a little face time and Champagne, her personal style has plenty of admirers.So, what is the Miller aesthetic? Streamlined, sporty, and sexy.Sexy was the overarching mood, with graphic cutouts and sheer paneling put to good effect (especially on a wear-with-everything black chiffon tank). This was body con that wasn't too "body": a marketable idea, surely.So it was a shame that some of the embellishments cheapened the overall effect. Miller's interest in opalescent fabrics was too much in evidence; they added little to otherwise sleek separates. There was an appealing versatility in a series of side-draped dresses in prints and solids—they could be one thing with flats and quite another with, say, a caged gladiator bootie. But the best pieces were the simplest, like a scuba-stretch dress in charcoal gray, the designer's favorite color of the moment.
10 September 2009
Nicole Miller stuck to her formula this season, focusing on patterns and materials. "I wanted to do something really abstract," she explained. "There's no big theme here." This translated to draped dresses in bright digital prints, as well as futuristic shifts in dense Lycra cotton and a Lurex-raffia blend. The designer also looked beyond the usual sources for her fabrics. After donning a Tyvek jumpsuit to paint in during a charity event earlier in the year, she cut a dress in the same industrial material.One piece of news: Miller's just-debuted Studio Beach collection, a separate year-round line of caftans, swimwear, and dashikis with a boho flair.
9 June 2009
Nicole Miller has grown a more successful business than many of the other designers showing this week, and tonight's collection made it clear why. One frock after another, in sequined geometric patterns or elaborate pintucks, would work equally well whether you're pushing 25 or 45. Working with a more subdued palette than usual ("Everyone thinks of me as the color person!" Miller joked backstage), the designer experimented with lacquered fabrics that yielded standout faux-leather and velour biker jackets. In an era in which Michelle Obama moves more clothing than an Olsen twin, Miller's sophisticated-but-fun wares feel just right.
12 February 2009
Nicole Miller turned her gaze to the cosmos for a celestially inspired pre-fall collection in a palette of plum, mustard, and teal. Star-shaped paillettes embellished a printed shift dress, while a stretchy "scuba" jacket with architectural sleeves would fit in on the Enterprise. A series of dresses in jersey and taffeta were manipulated so that elaborate tucks and braids spilled down the fronts. "We just kept on sewing and this is the result," Miller said. If those dresses weren't exactly on theme, what's fashion without a little experimentation?
10 December 2008
Before the sighting of a single look, it was abundantly clear from the mosaic-patterned runway that Nicole Miller planned to unabashedly indulge her love of prints for Spring. When it comes to faraway inspiration, Miller is a frequent flier. This season's sartorial trip took her to Haiti, where the brightly plumed exotica of voodoo caught her eye. One quirky print even featured rows of voodoo dolls, and others echoed the tiny tiled look of the runway. To avoid getting carried away with a theme and a total prints-travaganza, Miller grounded the magical with the practical, as seen in terrific menswear-inflected pieces—at their best in boyish tailored blazers, made new with outside seams or by being cut in a decidedly unstuffy chalk-stripe linen. These paired well with the many newly ubiquitous cropped, slouchy trousers, as well as shirting that glimmered with a hint of gold thread. With so much color and tomboyish kick, this was an optimistic collection. You could barely fault the designer for the conceptual exuberance in awkward dresses that looked like suiting wools twirled around a man's shirt, or the overly dramatic sculptural winglike necklines on some gowns. After all, every trip leads to a few souvenirs that make you wonder what you were thinking.
4 September 2008
"My assistant traveled to Bali and brought back the most amazing prints," said Nicole Miller. That explains how, after last year's primarily white collection, the designer has come to embrace ROYGBIV and the charms of the South Pacific for Resort. Working in a paradisiacal palette of lime, berry, orange, and turquoise, she presented seasonal staples like caftans and tunics, worn with coordinating floppy hats from Patricia Underwood. Tribal prints contrasted with a checkerboard pattern, a nod to the sartorial preferences of Balinese men. Add a recurring cloud motif and, like Miller, you might find yourself dreaming of far, far away.
10 June 2008
Nicole Miller found her Fall inspiration in the bravery and power of Joan of Arc. Other designers have made a muse of the teenage warrior in the recent past, and we've seen all sorts of interpretations of modern-day armor. But, filtered through Miller's signature prints and familiar dresses, the concept had a softness that seemed new. The show opened with a pleated silver lamé minidress over a black silk blouse, and along the way crossed off other Joan signifiers like chain mail and fleur-de-lis (both came as vivid prints); tunic dresses (color-blocked, they were the smartest and simplest looks in the collection); and relaxed blouson tops worn with leggings. Stirrup pants with horizontal stripes across the thighs seem like a stretch for the Nicole Miller client. Smartly, the designer abandoned the theme when it came to evening. A little black cocktail dress with ruffles trimming a squared-off neckline was unapologetically girly. Similarly, Miller knows that her celebrity clients—Natasha Henstridge, Cheryl Hines, and Melissa George sat side by side in the front row—shy away from gimmicks. So the trickiest thing about her red-carpet gowns was their surprising, but rather elegant, draping and asymmetry.
31 January 2008
The compulsion to clean house is strong in Spring—it's an opportunity to throw off heavy knits and turn the page on silhouettes that have fatigued the eye since February. For Nicole Miller, Spring 2008 is a moment for "streamlined glamour" and timelessness, not trends.As she explained backstage, "After all those big dresses, it's time to bring things in." Sleek day frocks and high-waisted pencil skirts with pleated seams hugged curves that had been ignored of late. These were the kind of hardworking looks that loyal customers appreciate: classic enough for the office and sexy enough for afterward. Also fresh were wide-legged trousers cut in fluid tropical wool and paired with strong-shouldered blouses or boyish soldier's jackets.The real news here, though, was Miller's sophisticated take on rompers (rechristened "short jumpsuits," to avoid obnoxious playground connotations). And, of course, it wouldn¿t be Nicole Miller without a few prints. She eschewed her beloved paisleys for stained-glass patterns in jewel tones. Though eye-catching, these worked best in smaller doses, i.e., a blouse layered under a cardigan. Yes, there can be too much of a good thing.
4 September 2007
Nicole Miller applied a light touch to her first-ever resort collection, which took inspiration from the forties and the seventies without becoming too theme-y. Shirtdresses, high-waisted shorts, and khakis topped with jaunty fedoras were interspersed among airy open-work frocks and Halston-esque caftans; clingy knit tank dresses shared the runway with flowing pajama-style pool cover-ups. As in any Miller production, prints were key: Plumes and tropical-greenery motifs stood out, but most intriguing was a very of-the-moment Ossie Clark-style floral.
17 June 2007
This industry veteran has, over the last few seasons, embarked on a fashion expedition of sorts through a world of ancient civilizations. After last spring¿s Mayan exploration, Miller ventured south to Peru for fall. But while she did accessorize with the traditional flat-brimmed hats—Peruvians are mad for hats—the folky theme was balanced by a refined sense of modernity and city chic.Plenty of the patterns and prints she's come to be so closely associated with appeared, but the most interesting pieces were as plain as could be. Bubble-sleeved pea coat; slim, boyish trousers; and pinafore dresses worn over banker-striped shirts made a strong counterpoint to the graphic jacquards and blanket prints.Swarmed by well-wishers backstage (including Ann Dexter-Jones, Sarah Wynter, and Cyndi Lauper), Miller joked about the fact that her label recently celebrated its quarter-century mark. "It's my birthday, not my anniversary!" she kidded the crowd. That's a long time for a label to hold strong, but by all accounts, Miller is as involved as ever in the day-to-day running of the business, and forging solidly ahead.
1 February 2007
After some curious delving in recent seasons into ancient Celtic and Viking themes, Nicole Miller returned to the present for spring. Or at least to a more familiar, not-so-distant past. Backstage after her show at Café St. Bart's on Park Avenue, the designer said she was inspired by the early and late parts of that ever-plundered decade, the sixties. The former was represented by baby-doll dresses with modish bubble skirts and an Empire-waist coat, while the latter turned up in embellishments like crocheted waistbands and shoulder straps on cocktail numbers and gowns, and a colorful geometric scarf print that hinted at Pucci.Not everything was retro. There were terrific cuffed shorts, prairie skirts in metallic taffeta, and sweet cotton camisoles, similar to those that pretty young things have been donning all summer. But too much looked borrowed from fashion's current group of It boys. Tulip skirts, intricately seamed bustier dresses, and others with all-too-familiar cutouts looked a lot fresher on the runways last season.
7 September 2005
While it sometimes may seem the world is awash in clothes, finding examples with the right mix of sophistication and practicality can be remarkably difficult. That’s where Nicole Miller has made her reputation, and her fall collection shows her continued ability to meet that challenge.The first part of her presentation included body-conscious jersey and satin dresses, tops and miniskirts in muted green, mocha, plum and black, and shaped by shirred panels. All these looks, including a pretty green shearling coat embroidered with a deco peacock-feather motif, were flattering and easy on the eyes, if not terribly new.Miller made a more individual statement with a series of party dresses. The designer demonstrated her eye for balancing glitz with wearability, putting just a few deco touches on her ’20s-esque flapper shifts and dropping down the neckline of a red gown—but not too, too far. And her sparkly bouclé coat was a prime example of Miller at her best: smart enough for day, cool enough for night.
8 February 2003
Cyndi Lauper's front-row presence at Nicole Miller's presentation was a harbinger of the '80s-inspired collection that followed. Wearing glitter socks with strappy metallic sandals, the models walked the runway in a dazzling array of iridescent Lurex pieces, gold denim and sequined prints. There were also matte jersey blouson and wrap dresses and, of course, a variety of prints, a Miller specialty.Gold chains with large hanging pendants, made by Erickson Beamon for Nicole Miller, were creatively worn as necklaces, belts and even dress straps. Leather hip belts, also gold, were equally effective. "Roller-girl glam rock—but modern" are the words Coleman (Miller's music man) used to describe the show's sound, and they work just as well to characterize Miller's collection.
18 September 2000
Nicole Miller devotees rely on the New York designer to translate the mood of the moment into reliable, affordable pieces. But this season, money and luxury were the inspiration for her opulent series of tweed, embroidered suits and corsets, multicolored-striped sweaters and rich paisley skirts. Miller added an especially extravagant touch to the lineup with fuzzy camouflage jackets, sleek leather pants and rabbit sweaters, bags and scarves. For evening, there were a series of jeweled looks, fox stoles, angora sweaters and even some elephant-skin jackets.
7 February 2000
"Daydreams" was the inspiration for Miller's show, which was defined by unbridled decoration. Beaded tube tops in magenta, chartreuse and yellow were worn with georgette ruffled skirts; contrasting patterns complemented each other within the same outfit. Aqua tanks were featured alongside turquoise leopard skirts, and hand-painted organza cap-sleeved shirts were paired with crocheted skirts. Among the standout evening looks: long tartan skirts and shiny blue trousers.
13 September 1999