Nili Lotan (Q3516)
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Nili Lotan is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Nili Lotan |
Nili Lotan is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
“It’s not fashion-y, it’s not trendy, and it’s not basic,” said Nili Lotan at her showroom, standing in front of a board featuring her pre-fall 2025 lookbook. “It’s sexy-minimal,” she offered, rounding up her description of the season.Since we last spoke, Lotan had a few updates: She’s opened a dedicated men’s store in New York, which, she says, is “doing great,” in addition to a location in Paris at Le Bon Marché. This lookbook, the first for which Lotan has photographed both men’s and women’s looks, features the arrival of a weekender bag, which Lotan is betting on to kick off a rollout of handbag styles she’s been working on for over a year. But back to Paris: “There’s two other American names at Le Bon Marché, The Row and Khaite, they call us the American row,” she said, “but when I see the three stores, they all look different, that’s what I want.”Lotan believes it’s the “sexy” in her minimalist style that makes her collection stand out. That and its friendlier—and definitely sexier—price point, which places her brand in the space between “for everyone” and “for only a few.” It’s this sexiness, too, that Lotan has placed at the center of her pre-fall effort. She swapped navy for a delicious and more alluring burgundy shade, and she did away with shirting in favor of sheer silk blouses and a solid range of second-skin knits, some of which she made as halters for a sultrier alternative to a traditional crewneck.Lotan also cropped the hems in her women’s jackets to make them more suitable for trans-seasonal; a double breasted style in a pinstripe wool and another in diamond quilted leather are standouts. The menswear is as covetable as the women’s in terms of quality and price point, but less specific in its design. Lotan seems to understand that men, particularly the grown-up, stylish-but-not-fashion-y guys she’s aiming for, aren’t that keen on swapping their wardrobes each season; what they really want are solid core items.On that note, Lotan concluded: “I’m a one-stop. Men, women—they don’t need to go anywhere else.” Other than wherever that weekender is taking them, of course.
29 November 2024
Nili Lotan spent part of her summer in Marbella. “All I wanted to wear were dresses,” the designer, known for cutting a mean pair of pants, proclaimed earlier this week at a showroom appointment. And so this season Lotan made dresses, lots of them: Simple white slips in barely-there floral crochet yarns, column maxis in black ribbed knits, wide-gauge black crochet T-shirt cover ups. And then, as a compliment, she made the airiest of blouses. Frilly, ruffly, silky, and lacey, all cut ample to billow in the wind and barely caress the body.What Lotan was getting at for spring is that boho is indeed back. It was Betty Catroux, the Brazilian-born, French fashion muse of Yves Saint Laurent who the designer looked at this season for inspiration. But rather than her style, it was also her lifestyle Lotan was thinking of. The extravagant, jet-setter way of life of the late ’70s. A freewheeling spirit with a luxurious sense of chicness, contradictory as that may sound.Lotan, as she explained, is fascinated with that very decade and its characters and aesthetics—Fleetwood Mac played as the background at our appointment. Sometimes she leans more into rock ’n’ roll, and others she examines her affection for military aesthetics; this season she landed somewhere in between, somewhere she had not been in recent memory, which brought some freshness to her line—suede blouses and jackets, flared jeans with little suede lacing details, fringed jackets, and striped slacks. There was a sense of ease to this side of Lotan, a softer edge. It was certainly welcome.
19 September 2024
At Nili Lotan the blouse is back. “I haven’t been doing silk blouses, I’ve been making all of my tops as cotton button-downs,” laughed Lotan at a preview. She missed them, she said, and so did her customers.You could say the blouse’s resurgence was coming, based on the wild reception to Chloé’s Chemena Kamali’s boho extravaganza in February, but Lotan is an instinctive designer, one who doesn’t bother herself with trends. For resort, that instinct took her into her own closet, where she pulled out two flowy tops: one a prim pussy bow blouse and the other more sultry with ballooning sleeves, a tight neckline, and a slit running down its back.“I think something that happened in this collection is a sense of freedom,” she said. “It’s about bringing in more fluidity, more silk, and less structure.” She loosened up her silhouettes, flaring the bottom of her flattering jeans and trousers and layering her billowy silk bouses with the occasional chunky knit or a tailored jacket in a classic pinstripe or check.In the world of Nili Lotan exist four core tenets: Rock and roll, ’70s Yves Saint Laurent, western aesthetics, and uniforms. Each collection checks those boxes in a particular way. This time around the rock vibes came from the sharpness of the tailoring, while the soft blouses nodded at YSL. The western of it all—which, if you haven’t already noticed, is also very much back—came through in some buttery leather separates and a fabulous suede fringed jacket. As for the uniform? The thing about Lotan is that everything she makes is meant to become one.
13 June 2024
Haven’t you heard? Brown is the new black.In case you didn’t notice by scrolling through this lookbook, Nili Lotan is “feeling brown.” The hue has been trending since late last year, taking the spotlight at the spring collections. But Lotan isn’t necessarily one to bend her knee to passing trends. She’s been at this for over four decades, two working independently. Over time, she’s collected an infinite amount of vintage pieces to reference, mostly from the ’70s, that she revisits at the beginning of each season. This time around, the item that caught her attention the most was a chocolate brown coat with golden buttons.“I looked at it and realized I don’t actually have a brown coat in my closet, let alone with gold buttons,” said Lotan at a preview. Nili Lotan, the brand, is intrinsic to Nili Lotan, the woman. This is a designer who each season looks at whatsheneeds and would like in her closet: it’s an exercise that informs the way she pieces together her collections, and, 21 years in, it hasn’t failed her yet.There were brown buttery leathers and brown corduroys, brown slinky slips and brown silky blouses. Lotan cut deliciously tailored jackets and coats in brown tweeds, herringbones, and plaids. She made barn jackets in coated canvas and even suede (this lineup’s MVP), and paired all these items with her best-selling jeans.There was a Britishness to the whole affair, but filtered through Lotan’s all-American lens: See the barn jackets, cropped to the waist, “she’s not going to the fields, she’s going to work,” said the designer. Think Meghan Markle if she spent some time at Balmoral and wore Ralph Lauren jeans and Polo shirting under plush Fair Isle knits and a Barbour jacket. “The brown sent me down this British countryside dream,” said Lotan. She’s not alone—based on previews and moodboards, you’ll be seeing lots of herringbones, houndstooths, and Prince of Wales checks this New York Fashion Week. What helped Lotan hit the mark, however, is that she brought her take on this recurring fantasy back Stateside.
12 February 2024
Nili Lotan’s focus is on delivering for her customers, and her priorities at the moment are price point and wardrobing. “I want to make sure I have a proper range, because everyone is being careful with how they spend their money, [and] it should feel like a complete lifestyle.”Moving away from the ’90s minimalism that she’s been working around for a year, her pre-fall leans heavily into prep territory. Lotan described it as “European collegiate,” but there’s something distinctly American about the sensibility. When discussing her menswear, an expanding category that she’s betting on for 2024, she said that the vibe is “less ‘sexy guy’ and more Steve McQueen.”The implication being that there’s a rawness to the new offering. Indeed, Lotan’s jeans have an inviting lived-in patina, whether they’re paired with supple cashmere separates or casual shirting with tuxedo details. The MVP shirt is a button-down cut in a weightless cotton voile.
11 December 2023
Nili Lotan’s focus is on delivering for her customers, and her priorities at the moment are price point and wardrobing. “I want to make sure I have a proper range, because everyone is being careful with how they spend their money, [and] it should feel like a complete lifestyle.”Moving away from the ’90s minimalism that she’s been working around for a year, her pre-fall leans heavily into prep territory. Lotan described it as “European collegiate,” but there’s something distinctly American about the sensibility. When discussing her menswear, an expanding category that she’s betting on for 2024, she said that the vibe is “less ‘sexy guy’ and more Steve McQueen.”The implication being that there’s a rawness to the new offering. Indeed, Lotan’s jeans have an inviting lived-in patina, whether they’re paired with supple cashmere separates or casual shirting with tuxedo details. The MVP shirt is a button-down cut in a weightless cotton voile.
11 December 2023
During a visit with Nili Lotan to review her resort 2024 collection earlier this year, she opened the conversation with a bang: “Navy is the new black.” Her reasoning was that her woman doesn’t own many of the considered basics she comes to Lotan for in the shade; she only owns them in black. For spring, she doubled down. The racks at her showroom were almost entirely devoid of black, bar two striking knit maxidresses—a basic the Lotan devotee doesn’t have in blackyet.“I’m a very intuitive person,” the designer said. “The truth is that this is a combination of that with strategy from a business perspective.” That’s the Nili Lotan no-nonsense pragmatism that keeps the many women who outfit their lives with her clothes coming back each season.Take her jacket proposals for spring: “I did so many blazers last spring that I was like, Okay, now everyone owns a blazer,” she said with a smirk. Of the many jackets Lotan cut this season, not one of them is a standard blazer. There’s military outerwear, a fantastic bar jacket, and a run of parkas and coat-length pieces.Another example: Lotan is designing for the weather we are experiencing, not the seasons we theoretically have. “It’s time to adjust,” she said. “It’s still cold in February. When spring delivers, she’s still dressing for winter.” And when spring ends, before pre-fall hits stores, she’s already dressing for summer, so Lotan worked high-summer ease into the tail-end delivery of her spring lineup. “That’s how I’m working with my DTC,” she explained. Lucky for her, and her customers, direct-to-consumer accounts for over 50% of her business. Not a bad place to be.
7 September 2023
“When you’re only wearing two things, they have to be the best.” Nili Lotan’s take on minimalism is based on lived experience—she launched her label at around the same time minimalism first swept fashion. Consequently, she’s less interested in performances of the aesthetic (quiet luxury, camel everything, oversized coats, and menswear trousers) and more focused on what makes the look enticing: “quality and ease.” For resort, Lotan expanded on the tone she set for pre-fall—with ’90s proportions and versatile essentials—and set out to deliver nothing other than sophistication.For Lotan, the key to a minimalist, essential wardrobe lies in the details. T-shirts are made in semi-sheer silk knits, and are cut with a high collar, ideal for layering under loose cashmere crewneck sweaters and knitted vests; jeans are washed and soft to the touch, as if pre-loved and worn-in; and trench coats and jackets come with removable faux-fur collars for an extra, but optional, feel of luxury. The point, she said at a preview in her Meatpacking District store, is that all of these clothes go together, but they’re special on their own.But Lotan does make a few strong statements here. The first: Skinny jeans are back. Say what? “We still have the flared and loose fits, but the skinny is coming back to balance the tailoring proportions.” You heard it here first.
9 June 2023
Nili Lotan, the brand, is turning 20 this year. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Nili Lotan, the woman, is looking back at the two original inspirations that have grounded her label. The first is what she calls “a rock ’n’ roll sexiness,” and the second a military (“but not in a militant way”) aesthetic deriving from the air force flight suit her husband used to wear as a pilot, and the two years the designer herself spent in the army.Lotan’s fall delivery was her at her purest (and most edited). Her preoccupation for the past 20 years has been delivering a wardrobe for her woman. “As I move from one season to another,” Lotan said at her Tribeca studio, “it’s basically one collection that I started in 2003, 20 years of essentially the same frame of mind, looking to give a woman eclecticness within her same world.” The eclectic touch this season was a run of very cool oversized shearling coats, which fulfilled their mission of elevating this assortment.“I’m having a bit of a problem with the ’90s,” Lotan said with a laugh, “so I am playing with ’90s jackets with rock ’n’ roll bottoms, creating my own version of a time that is now.” Her proportions this season worked. Her slim pants flaring at the bottom balanced the hefty jackets, and her cropped jackets paired well with wide pleated menswear trousers, though Lotan doesn’t really need to offer a ’90s redux. The Nili Lotan woman is a timeless dresser, she is more focused on building up a solid wardrobe of essentials than collecting fashion’s trendy item of the week.“Whatwasthe ’90s nineties?" Lotan continued. “It’s about now. What is it that a woman needs today?” Here’s to 20 more years of figuring that out.
4 March 2023
Nili Lotan spent the ’90s wearing Margiela and Jil Sander while leading design teams in New York City—first at Liz Claiborne, and then at Ralph Lauren. Those years deeply informed her perspective on fashion, and for pre-fall she channeled the minimal-chic look of the widely-referenced era.Lotan has been ruminating on a cultural shift she’s observed post-pandemic, specifically our renewed fascination with luxury. “Luxury in the sense of not over-embellishing yourself with gold and diamonds, but of treating yourself with beautiful things,” she explains. This feeling informed the general spirit of her men’s and women’s collections, which consist of sharp cotton tailoring, sleek leather outerwear, and tank tops and tees in luscious silk knits.The collections are split into three stories. The first is a black and ivory tailoring group, in which exacting oversized jackets are paired with double-pleated trousers that pool at the hem or with over-the-knee shorts, channeling the chic butchness of ’90s power suits in contemporary proportions. In the menswear, blazers are cut closer to the body while trousers remain wide, a digestible but still directional look. The second section is the collection’s sharpest. It features wardrobe essentials like wear-to-work pencil skirts, tank tops, and blouses fashioned in warm grays that subtly clash against cooler tones of the same color. Looks 13 and 14 in the women’s slideshow are particularly strong, with bottoms, outerwear, and layered tops all harmoniously playing off each other. The third group is rooted in military pieces, a refresh to a story Nili Lotan customers will recognize. While not an entirely new idea, a uniform is always enticing.“I had a lot of respect for Liz [Claiborne] at the time because she said what I’m saying now, in a way,” Lotan explained. “She wanted to help women dress, she designed in groups that were easy, it all matched. I try to be more freestyle, but it comes from the same intention to empower women and make them feel good.”
12 December 2022
Nili Lotan spent the ’90s wearing Margiela and Jil Sander while leading design teams in New York City—first at Liz Claiborne, and then at Ralph Lauren. Those years deeply informed her perspective on fashion, and for pre-fall she channeled the minimal-chic look of the widely-referenced era.Lotan has been ruminating on a cultural shift she’s observed post-pandemic, specifically our renewed fascination with luxury. “Luxury in the sense of not over-embellishing yourself with gold and diamonds, but of treating yourself with beautiful things,” she explains. This feeling informed the general spirit of her men’s and women’s collections, which consist of sharp cotton tailoring, sleek leather outerwear, and tank tops and tees in luscious silk knits.The collections are split into three stories. The first is a black and ivory tailoring group, in which exacting oversized jackets are paired with double-pleated trousers that pool at the hem or with over-the-knee shorts, channeling the chic butchness of ’90s power suits in contemporary proportions. In the menswear, blazers are cut closer to the body while trousers remain wide, a digestible but still directional look. The second section is the collection’s sharpest. It features wardrobe essentials like wear-to-work pencil skirts, tank tops, and blouses fashioned in warm grays that subtly clash against cooler tones of the same color. Looks 13 and 14 in the women’s slideshow are particularly strong, with bottoms, outerwear, and layered tops all harmoniously playing off each other. The third group is rooted in military pieces, a refresh to a story Nili Lotan customers will recognize. While not an entirely new idea, a uniform is always enticing.“I had a lot of respect for Liz [Claiborne] at the time because she said what I’m saying now, in a way,” Lotan explained. “She wanted to help women dress, she designed in groups that were easy, it all matched. I try to be more freestyle, but it comes from the same intention to empower women and make them feel good.”
12 December 2022
It should come as no surprise that Nili Lotan has a robust and healthy business. The Israeli-born designer has just the right idea of what her customer is looking for. She has a good eye for proportion and trend, yes, but she’s also an innate merchant. Collection appointments with her consist of more than a walk-through: Models walk casually in full looks around the room for buyers and editors while Lotan carefully dissects her every piece, which are all spread evenly across racks in groups she puts together to better illustrate her vision.For spring, Lotan grounded her vision on big and oversized silhouettes—tops in particular, she said, because after years of design experience, she knows that her woman will not often “go for big on both the top and bottom.” This came across best in her relaxed but neatly cut tailoring, paired with matching trousers and oversized cotton shirting or over beige sequined skirts and Lotan’s signature slinky floor-length silk slips. Self-admittedly a pant designer, Lotan has been leaning more and more into dresses. This season’s novelty in that space came in a lineup of halter dresses and slips, mostly presented in prints, one being leopard and the other featuring chain links. These, together with Lotan’s very luxurious-feeling silk knits and silk waistband-less skirts, helped add a layer of specialty to her commercially grounded assortment. Ditto the three pops of color she worked into the offering: An almost-burnt orange, rich purple, and military green lifted her lineup and allowed for her seasonal novelty to shine in between her core line and bestsellers. The piece that packed the biggest punch in the collection was a khaki leather trench: light, oversized, and deliciously luxe.Much has been written already this week about how commercial New York Fashion Week often feels, and as true as that often is, there’s value in designers like Lotan who know exactly how to talk to their audience. “I have a straight connection to my customer because I have retail stores,” she said, and this collection was a testament to that. After all, some fashion-philes dream of romantic gowns in whimsical look books or gothic fantasies on ominously lit runways, but others dream of the perfect jacket or a beautiful slip.
13 September 2022
Cliché as it sounds, it’s true that some things never go out of style. At Nili Lotan, ’70s rock and roll is definitely one of them. For resort, the Israeli-born, New York-based designer let the decade inform her eveningwear-driven collection. “Everyone is indulging and going to parties and celebrating life now,” she said during a preview. “And I want to provide for that.”Her customer's social calendar must be stacking up. The collection delivers a comprehensive wardrobe for the holiday season, grounded mainly in evening looks and day to evening styles. Sharply tailored double-breasted jackets in velvet, wool suiting, and leather paired with fitted silk blouses and flared jeans and trousers drive the collection. A run of slip dresses round out the story and give the lineup movement.Lotan chose gold as her accent for the season, punctuating with details like buttons, lurex yarns in her knits, and embroidery. Most striking was a collarless tailored jacket, fully beaded in golden tube beads. Worn shirt- and bra-less and paired with jeans, it spoke to the way Lotan envisions her woman getting dressed.“I’m one stop,” she says. “People come and find everything here, and that’s always been the goal.” Lotan has expanded her menswear offering and continues to grow her womenswear business. She says she designs for herself, for the life she has and the wardrobe she needs. Perhaps that’s the key behind her success. Being your own critic is not always the easiest, but being your own customer? That’s a different story.
14 June 2022
Nili Lotan has given herself a funny challenge this season: “How do I make a puffer sexy?” After walking around during lockdown in her puff coat, the designer is taking a hard pivot away from volume and into form. Her fall 2022 collection is one of her sleekest ever, grounded in slender chocolate suiting, tight pencil skirts, and silk blouses with details around the neckline. Even she admits it’s not “fashion fashion.” Instead, she offers, “It’s exactly how I want to dress and what I want to see women wear.”Maybe that matters more? Lotan will open five stores this year, expand her menswear, and launch accessories. She has grown a bustling business by constantly listening to her customers and pushing them into new territories gently: a giant shaggy shearling, for example, feels slightly more raw than what’s on offer this season. That energy, something a little off, could help push her more into the fashion conversation. Oh and for the record, the sexy puffer is leather.
23 February 2022
Nili Lotan is launching menswear next summer. She tested the concept back in 2017 via a small collaboration with her friends Inez and Vinoodh, but in the time since, she’s watched the opportunity grow alongside her booming women’s business. We get a first glimpse of the NL man in her pre-fall 2022 lookbook, shot between Lotan’s backyard in upstate New York and the streets of Tribeca. The city photos take loose cues from John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s famous ’90s style: all-black basics, leather jackets, no-frills. Lotan’s brand has always been more about great clothes than fashion, but her collections of late have become more stripped-back and essential. They’ve grown more luxurious, too, namely through better fabrics and precise tailoring at competitive prices.That’s a salable mix for women, men, and people of every gender identity. Also worth noting: While it’s relatively common to see men’s brands introduce women’s lines—often with scaled-down versions of their most popular items—the opposite isn’t standard practice. However dated the term, “borrowed from the boys” has an air of effortless nonchalance; but are men down with “borrowed from the girls”? Certain types probably aren’t. But Lotan recognized two things: First, that many of her customers are eager to shop for their husbands and boyfriends, and second, that couples today are often inspired by each other’s style. Gender has little to do with it.It helps that Lotan’s clothes hew classic, of course. Her signature army pants have a particularly universal appeal, ditto pre-fall’s polished cable-knits, peacoats, chinos, and tailoring, which nod to her early days at Ralph Lauren. A new take on suiting stood out: a brass-buttoned wool jacket with an elongated, ’70s-ish collar and matching flared trousers. Designers throughout the industry are reporting that tailoring is in extra-high demand these days, and Lotan’s will stand out in a sea of standard lapels and double-breasted blazers.
16 December 2021
During the pandemic, Nili Lotan got in the habit of photographing her collections in two locations: upstate New York and Manhattan. She remixed the looks according to their surroundings, but the images published on Vogue Runway of late have been primarily set in the country. They reflected our collective desire to escape to nature and unwind, but anyone who gave up their downtown apartment might tell you that impulse was short-lived. The city is unquestionably where you want to be right now, immersed in the energy and spirit of a historic re-emergence. Lotan feels it, too: Her spring 2022 collection was photographed not upstate, but right here in Tribeca, with a renewed emphasis on sleek tailoring and ultra-refined separates.To say Lotan is abandoning sweats and leisurewear altogether isn’t accurate; her NL core collection is still a reliable source for army joggers, soft hoodies, and slouchy tees. But her excitement lies in spring’s spare and luxurious sensibility. The ivory suits in trim, elongated proportions will be familiar to NL fans; ditto the ultra-wide-leg chinos and buttery suede jackets. The surprises came in Lotan’s new eveningwear experiments—A-line gowns and tunics intricately hand-stitched with gold threads—and a new group of slinky jersey tunics, blouses, and cropped flares, to be worn together or broken apart. One look combined a gilded-edge tunic with the comfy jersey pants and flat sandals, a balance of elegance and ease that feels just right for re-entry.
22 September 2021
Nili Lotan is about to open new stores in Palm Beach and Aspen, a testament to her label’s wide-ranging appeal. Lotan’s specialty is in taking the clothes we wear every day—button-downs, jeans, blazers, sweaters—and making them about 10 times more luxurious and covetable. It’s a sweet spot that resonates no matter where you live; every woman dreams of finding those foolproof “uniform pieces” that are neither sloppy nor overwrought. As we reemerge from lockdown, the demand for Lotan’s elegant daywear is higher than ever.She isn’t one to rest on her laurels, though. Lotan hopes the resort 2022 collection will push her customers. There’s a darker, dressier elegance to it, from the black-and-white palette to the sleeker tailoring and the noticeable lack of denim. While her last collection was styled almost entirely with jeans, resort introduced a new hero pant: high-rise tailored wool trousers. She designed a handful of them, her favorite being a straight-leg style shown with pussy-bow blouses, chunky turtlenecks, and evening jackets alike.The other highlights were in Lotan’s burgeoning outerwear category. She’s a big believer in statement coats, and there’s two new styles here: a glossy patent leather trench and an ankle-grazing cape. Either would dramatically transform whatever you’re wearing, whether it’s a suit or jeans or even sweats. On that note, Lotan is unveiling a collaboration with Champion later this month—her first collaboration ever.
10 June 2021
“Nili Lotan has never staged a runway show, and she probably never will.” So goes the opening line of my review of Lotan’s spring 2021 collection, and reader, it didn’t age well. On yet another Zoom to discuss pre-fall, Lotan declared that as soon as it’s safe to hold a show, she’s doing it. What a difference five months can make! If in the past it felt like an unnecessary extravagance, particularly for a designer focused on jeans and suits, the concept has taken on a new meaning. Now, to attend a show would mean we’re really, finally past this pandemic and have a clear view of the future after a year of haze. Even just hearing her verbalize her plans felt hopeful.It may be a while yet before we can gather safely for shows, but Lotan is already getting in the celebratory spirit with pre-fall. After several collections of refined day clothes and sweats, she’s shifting her focus to special, statement-y pieces her customers might not need but will definitely want. Her justification was simple: We’re going to want to dress up this summer and fall, no matter what the world looks like. (Plus, we’ve had a year to buy loungewear and sneakers; perhaps we don’t need new options.)Jackets, outerwear, and vests were among the most memorable pieces, like Lotan’s signature plush shearling, a hand-crocheted poncho, and an ivory leather-trimmed cape. They’re easy investments because they’re so undeniably functional; we reach for our favorite outerwear daily. Lotan made an oddly compelling case for vests too—one in ivory shearling, another in a hand-embroidered patchwork done in India—though women leaning into fashion’s more rugged, outdoorsy vibe might go for her version of a classic barn jacket instead.That jacket looked right at home in upstate New York, where Lotan shot the look book at her own house. For her website and Instagram, she did a separate shoot in Tribeca, completely restyling the clothes for their urban surroundings. Some of her choices went against convention; she put blazers with flared jeans and heeled boots in the country but paired them with joggers and sneakers in the city. It reflects how women in New York are dressing now—mixing loungewear and so-called real clothes—and what our idea of escape looks like without planes, restaurants, or events in the mix. If we’re lucky enough to spend a weekend in Hudson or skiing on Hunter Mountain, we might actually feel galvanized to make a bit of an effort.
25 January 2021
Nili Lotan has never staged a runway show, and she probably never will. She doesn’t need to; Lotan is a designer who makes clothes for real life, the pieces we reach for daily and keep for years: shirting, high-rise jeans, army pants, excellent blazers, not-sloppy sweats. The NL way is to give it all a slight ’70s attitude and use luxurious Italian fabrics, turning those “basics” into cherished pieces. But the past few months have surprised her: The items she thought would sell out in a pandemic—her sweats, T-shirts, and joggers—actually weren’t her top sellers. Not by a mile. It was pre-fall’s more expensive, fashion-forward items that sold out first, both on her own website and those of high-end e-tailers, pieces like a buttery leather pilot jacket and an expressive suede fringed one. Lotan’s takeaway was that women are drawn to the comfort of an investment piece—in uncertain times, the idea of owning something for 10 or 20 years feels solid and hopeful—but that they want to make a bit of a statement, too.It inspired her to pepper in a little more “fashion” for spring 2021. That fringed jacket was remade in ivory leather, and she introduced surprisingly sexy, barely-there tops in crochet and lace.Feminineis not a word you’d normally associate with Lotan’s brand, but they brought some lightness to her army jackets and rigid jeans. For the most part, though, this collection was a reminder of Lotan’s strengths and a winning suggestion of what we should wear after months of sweatpants: a silk shirt, a longline blazer, and wide-leg jeans, shown here in about a dozen combinations of khaki, black, off-white, and lilac. (Top it all off with Lotan’s new oval-buckled leather belts, too, launching in October.) It’s a look that feels pulled together, yet relaxed, and helps you stand taller without feeling ostentatious or try-hard. For many women, it’s exactly what they’d like to be wearing right now at the office, if only it were open. Lotan’s hope is that by 2021, we’ll be back to work—albeit in a socially distanced setting—and will delight in the process of throwing together an easy, confident outfit in the morning again.
14 September 2020
Designers who weren’t affected by mill and factory closures in China, Italy, and New York finished their resort collections before the pandemic. Others, like Nili Lotan, did most of the work over the past few months. Their made-in-quarantine collections offer a glimpse of what women will be wearing in November, when some of us will still be working from home. More importantly, though, they also begin to answer the question of fashion’s role in times of crisis: Is it even appropriate to make new stuff right now? And do women want to spend their time and money on clothes?Fashion is meant to reflect the times in which we’re living, which explains the number of sweatpants in this season’s resort look books. For many designers, including Lotan, there’s been a general sense of paring back too. She said many of her stores specifically requested sweaters, likely because knitwear sales did well last year and a cashmere turtleneck isn’t a huge leap from the sweatshirts we’ve been wearing every day. In cream ribbed-knit or charcoal cables, Lotan’s knits felt subdued too; they’re sweaters to reach for when you want to feel put-together, but not pretentious. “I didn’t want anything fancy,” she said on a Zoom call. “It just doesn’t feel appropriate to dress up.” Throughout the pandemic, she studied every single order that came through on her brand’s e-commerce site, and saw that women were on that page too. There’s an argument to be made for dressing boldly in times of stress, but Lotan’s customer isn’t that type.Lotan follows her instincts and felt like she needed a clean slate, starting with the palette: calming blue, soft ivory, and neutrals like black, camel, and chocolate. The clothes themselves were similarly spare, an extension of her refined, classics-oriented fall 2020 collection but with less of a ’70s bent. Sweaters and army pants, button-downs and jeans, hoodies and joggers, the “looks” registered more as clothes than full-on fashion, and that was intentional.Lotan doesn’t expect her customer to engage in mind-bending styling or accessorizing right now, because she isn’t either; she wants easy, well-made items she can throw on without a second thought. It’s the nuances of proportion, fabric, and fit that keep it all feeling recognizably NL: Her patch-pocket flares skim the hips; shirts are just slouchy enough; sweaters are generous, but not oversized.
Outerwear is a growing category for Lotan, and it’s where she injected the most “fashion” here: See the fringed suede jackets, soft shearlings with zero hardware, and a vaguely nostalgic, intarsia’d wrap that would make an excellent replacement for your hoodie.
21 July 2020
Nili Lotan has always been a designer who prefers style to quote-unquote fashion. Her specialty is upgrading familiar staples—blazers, button-downs, jeans, cashmere knits—with just a touch of attitude. Lately she’s been stripping away the extras and looking to her own style as a teenager in Israel for inspiration. It was the late ’70s, an era before trends were at our fingertips and most women owned a fraction of the stuff we do now. The point of getting dressed was to look polished and put-together, but also to not really have to think about what you’re wearing. For kids of the Instagram #ootd era, that’s likely impossible to imagine. But that might explain why the classic, almost anti-fashion “bourgeois” look Hedi Slimane has popularized at Celine is finding such a large audience, including women like Lotan. They’re craving less fuss, less distractions, less time spent figuring out what the hell they’re “supposed” to wear.Lotan’s devoted customers have long relied on her to tell them just that, and they continue to trust her because she’s never put them in a neon ruffle or XXL blazer. She hopes her fall 2020 collection will contribute to their lineup of foolproof, no-brainer pieces they can throw on and forget about: perfect blazers in a variety of plaids and wools; crisp shirting, sometimes with a little ruffle at the collar; high-grade leather jackets and trenchcoats; boot-cut jeans with a high, sensible rise. The big news was the plush, caramel-colored shearling coats, inspired by Lotan’s own failed search for one that wasn’t covered in hardware or priced at five figures. She was also excited about her first belts, offered in black and chocolate leather with oval buckles. Not every woman can get excited about a belt, but in the NL universe it’s a little luxury to obsess over.
10 February 2020
If trends are over, the arbitrary seasonal reference might be next. Nili Lotan has never been one to cherry-pick a different artist, film, or muse as her “inspiration”; in fact, you’re more likely to see the same people on her mood board season after season. Pre-fall’s featured Mick Jagger, Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin—all familiar faces in the Lotan universe—notably dressed in their simplest, most casual looks. Button-downs and boot-cut jeans, crisp suits, blouses under sweaters; it mirrored the easy, yet polished stuff Lotan remembers wearing when she was a student in the late ’70s, long before “casual” translated to sweatpants and sneakers.This collection was essentially a more grown-up, luxe reprisal of those classic, timeless items. She believes next summer’s “look” will involve a navy blazer, a striped T-shirt, and boot-cut jeans—efficient, yet chic. Maybe you’ll swap in a chambray button-down or ivory flares here and there, but the formula will stay the same. The ’70s spirit isn’t new for Lotan, of course, but this was a more stripped-back, feminine interpretation of the decade. Her evening propositions touched more on the “haute bourgeois” sensibility we saw on the fall and spring runways, particularly at Celine: ruffled chiffon blouses, leather knee-length skirts, relaxed pinstripe suits. As for the “feminine” thing, only her longtime customers will understand the significance of the floral tie-neck blouse. Years ago, Lotan would’ve never dreamed of using florals; they felt entirely too girly. This one was a small-scale wildflower print in warm neutrals, so it felt more earthy than straight-up pretty.
6 December 2019
Nili Lotan is often the first to say her clothes don’t have a lot of hanger appeal. The real essence of her label comes down to how the pieces are actually worn by the NL woman. Lotan herself is the ultimate example: She starts each collection by thinking about what’s missing in her wardrobe and what feels right, and her brand’s consistent growth suggests there’s an increasing number of women who want to follow her instincts. Spring 2020 had many of the core pieces you expect from Lotan—the slouchy pants, silky button-downs, and low-key tailoring—but was in many ways an extension of her decadent, embellishment-heavy Resort collection. Both seasons took their cues from Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards’s onstage style, namely the embellished vests and silky blouses. Lotan doesn’t really do menswear, save for a few collaborations here and there, but the vibe feels right for the current moment, when rockstars and regular guys alike are rethinking the codes of “masculinity.” It’s easy to picture Harry Styles picking up one of those spangly jackets, or even a satin blouse with a few buttons left undone.Those glam black-and-gold pieces made up half of the collection, and the other was entirely white and beige. These were the more casual, rumpled items Lotan envisioned packing in a suitcase for a trip to Morocco: On an exceptionally hot day in Manhattan, the cream caftan with embroidered trim looked surprisingly fresh (and so much more original than the New Yorker’s go-to slip), and Lotan introduced a relaxed short suit in sand linen. They brought a new, earthy-yet-refined sensibility to Lotan’s repertoire of button-downs and cargos, though her most devoted customers will be more excited to try out her latest pant: a super-full, rounded pair that tapered just above the ankle.
10 September 2019
Save for a leopard print or ruffle here and there, Nili Lotan tends to stick to easy, minimal pieces with just a touch of attitude. In contrast, Resort 2020 looked almost decadent: gold-buttoned military jackets, leather bombers with flashes of metallic leopard, and silk blouses with deep frills at the cuff. Even her basic cashmere sweaters came with new stripes of Lurex, and she trimmed her most low-key camouflage jacket with bullion. Lotan credited Jimi Hendrix for that freer, more romantic sensibility, noting the singular way he mixed vintage military garb with Indian prints and silky scarves. (He would have been really into the leopard-spotted velvet coat, never mind the fact that it will be sold in the women’s section.)The vibes might also have something to do with Lotan’s newly reorganized business: Last year, she introduced NL, a “core” collection of her best-selling T-shirts, military pants, button-downs, and slipdresses that will be available year-round. Now that she’s got basics covered, perhaps she’s had more room for experimentation in her “real” collection. In addition to those opulent, Hendrix-ian pieces, much of this lineup nodded to rock and roll in the ’70s, a decade Hendrix was tragically absent from. Yves Saint Laurent was a particular touchstone; see the pussy-bow blouses, leather capes, and high-rise skinny jeans. Speaking of which: It’s worth pointing out that it took Lotan a long time to get into waist-cinching denim—as in, nearly 10 years. She’s always been more drawn to pants with a slouchier fit, but the dozens of “evening tops” that are now her signature require slimmer, more elegant lines. Resort’s best top options came in ivory silk with gentle pin-tucking down the plackets—and while many of Lotan’s customers will certainly pair them with high-rise skinnies, they looked even better with her new glossy satin tuxedo pants.
6 June 2019
Nili Lotan isn’t one for specific references, so it was a surprise to hear that Fall 2019 had a single jumping-off point: While she was visiting the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, she came upon a photo of a woman in polka dots and pinstripes, which became two of the main prints in the collection. There were notes of Saint Laurent elsewhere, too: in the tie-neck blouses, the expanded tailoring, the little button-front vests.IfDiane Keatondoesn’t know about Lotan, someone should tell her. Photos of the actress in her signature ’70s suits and ties were on Lotan’s moodboard. (There was a photo of Lauren Hutton, too; Lotan said she admired both women for ignoring trends and dressing with confidence.) Keaton’s style is a bit different now, and she’s been sharing it on Instagram in a series of outfit posts: mostly black suits and dresses, thick belts, platform boots, and wide-brim hats. It’s a bit more goth than Lotan’s vibe, but we have a feeling she’d be really into the three-piece suits and high-rise leather trousers.Since Lotan reorganized her business last season—she now has a core line called NL, reserved for the army pants, sweatshirts, and slip dresses women buy year-round—she’s been able to explore new garments, often within the realm of “casual luxe” dressing. For Fall, she’s expanding her leather offering with lizard-embossed blazers and pants; she designed a few handfuls of “dinner blouses” in hand-beaded silk or glossy jacquard; and she’s experimenting with prints, like the zebra stripe on a velvet coat.Broken up, of course, each piece was pretty simple—a blazer, a sweater, a shirt—but it’s the slouch in the proportion and the way Lotan styles it that makes it memorable. She had a few models on hand to try everything on this afternoon, and that louche, yet pulled-together attitude comes across even better in person. As much as this writer enjoys chatting with Lotan in her tranquil showroom, she should consider doing something “official” on the calendar next season. For starters, it would be a hot ticket—Lotan has lots of fans within the industry, and countless other editors and buyers are curious about her—and it feels like the right moment for her to take the leap. There are several big-name designers missing from New York Fashion Week this season, but the upside is that it creates opportunities for designers like Lotan to prove their mettle as key players in American fashion.
9 February 2019
We’re not going to name any names here, but Nili Lotan just learned she’s the top-selling designer in one of New York’s most beloved stores. If you’re familiar with her collections, you might understand why: Lotan’s clothes have a built-in nonchalance and a touch of ’70s edge, so even her simplest blouses and army pants make you feel a little bit cooler. They’re easy, truly wearable clothes with attitude—in fact, they have more attitude than a lot of the trendier, more complicated stuff out there. But it’s still a surprise to hear that number one statistic, considering how many New Yorkers likely haven’t heard Lotan’s name before. It goes to show just how powerful a designer’s own community can be; her cult following is so dedicated, it can support her brand without the flash of marketing campaigns or Instagram ads.Lotan isn’t resting on her laurels, though. Instead, as her business expands—both in her own stores (she now has three) and in retailers around the world—she’s also expanding her repertoire. Until now, her collections could be pretty evenly divided: On one side, there were her day pieces, like army pants, cashmere knits, button-downs, and cargo jackets, and on the other, her evening slip dresses and glossy faux furs. Pre-Fall marked the first time she really explored the middle ground in between, introducing what can best be described as “elegant casual” dressing: khaki trousers and double-breasted blazers, suede minis, fluid trenchcoats, textured-silk blouses, and a handful of new high-rise, tapered trousers. The ’70s references came through in the little vests (worn with three-piece suits or over leopard blouses), not to mention the platform boots she styled it all with. (Lotan doesn’t make shoes, but we have a feeling she’s been thinking about it.)Fans of her camouflage hoodies and raw-edge silk dresses needn’t worry. Those categories were well represented in this collection; in fact, Lotan recently launched a core collection of hoodies, army pants, and cargo jackets that will be available year-round. They’re the same pieces she launched her collection with in 2003, and they remain consistent best-sellers. “This is a whole business in and of itself,” she revealed. “It’s what my customers wear on the weekends and to run errands around the city.” She also debuted a collection of head-to-toe cashmere sets, with joggers, pullovers, turtlenecks, and shell tops.
Plenty of women will wear them on a long-haul flight, but Lotan doesn’t picture those items leaving your house; she sees them as the ultimate leisurewear.
4 December 2018
Nili Lotan’s business is thriving because women actually wear—make that live in—her clothes. Nonchalant, untrendy daywear is her m.o., from oversize cashmere knits to baggy army pants and excellent shirting, all of which make up the day-to-day, grab-and-go wardrobes of her customers in New York, Paris, and beyond. Lotan is so deliberately averse to trends and so dedicated to making anonymous clothes (unless you’re an NL superfan, you won’t immediately recognize a button-down or blazer as being hers) that her rapid growth is all the more impressive. She cares about the just-right slouch of a pant and gestural details like balloon sleeves and curved hemlines, which move with your body as opposed to restricting it.Eveningwear hasn’t really been Lotan’s thing. Her slip dresses have been a consistent top seller for years, and she now offers them in a range of styles, lengths, and colors (plus camisoles and skirts in the same spirit). They’re great for weddings, but most girls wear them during the day with sneakers and denim jackets. Spring 2019 marks Lotan’s first major experiment in real-deal, black-tie-worthy evening. Editors who spent most of New York Fashion Week in a suit will be immediately drawn to the first look: a gently structured blazer in liquid black satin. Despite its relative simplicity—black suits are a dime a dozen these days—Lotan’s felt distinctly “hers” thanks to a tasseled cord wrapped around the waist and the long, raw-edged satin skirt she styled with it. Several looks came in the same high-gloss material: long-sleeved blouses, paisley harem pants, no-frills button-downs. Unsurprisingly, there were zero gowns.Flipping through the looks in her showroom, there was a stark divide between those sumptuous, elegant satin separates and the collection’s other main fabric: linen. In sandy shades of cream and camel, Lotan imagined the drawstring-waist linen trousers, soft blazers, and pop-over shirts being packed in her customer’s suitcase for a vacation. Many of her Tribeca regulars likely have separate “vacation wardrobes,” or they might even buy her breezy pieces specifically for their beach houses, with zero intention of bringing them back to the city. For the rest of us, we can assure you the light, vaguely earthy pieces will look just as good on a 90-degree day in Brooklyn.
13 September 2018
In the late ’90s, Nili Lotan spent a few years working on the design team at Ralph Lauren. Despite being raised outside of the United States, her tenure at the Polo stomping grounds gave her a great understanding of and appreciation for American fashion. She is a minimalist designer with cowboys and prepsters forever ingrained in her creative psyche. This season, she decided to pull some of those Western influences from her internal archive. The resulting collection nods to images of the Marlboro Man and Mr. Lauren himself, with tweed blazers, denim-on-denim looks, and a new suede version of her fringe jacket. Despite the more apparent references to American rodeo culture, Lotan was careful not to go too far down that horse track. In an effort to stay true to her roots, she photographed some of the more Americana-leaning pieces at a Bedouin tribe in the desert of Israel, her home country. The rest of the lineup was shot on the streets of New York’s Lower East Side.Lotan named this collection The Wild Wild East, and it is a seamless blend of both her worlds. The white silk suit with pant legs tucked into cowboy boots was among the best examples of Lotan’s cultural hybridizing, as was a caramel-color velvet trouser worn with a simple black button-down shirt. Overall, the clothes felt personal and smart in the way that they were executed. Often a designer will overdo a Western theme and the result will be something that is more costume than wearable clothing. Lotan takes care with her design process and that strategy came through well here. The clothes spoke to her journey between East and West and, even better, they made Americana seem like a new idea again.
12 June 2018
Nili Lotan likes to say she designs clothes she’s missing in her own wardrobe. Ahead of Fall 2018, she got a craving for wide-leg leather pants, so she made a pair. Her healthy business is proof that her instincts are usually correct; prepare to see a lot of girls in baggy leather trousers next season. The same thinking applied to her new extra-long cashmere cardigans; a spangly silver Lurex blouse with full sleeves; and a body-skimming, sapphire velvet turtleneck dress. They’re familiar pieces with tweaked details and fits; almost everything chez Lotan has a languid, shrugged-on drape, so you can’t help but look cooler.Rock ’n’ roll is the thread weaving through every Nili Lotan collection, but this one felt particularly badass, thanks in part to those leather pants, but also her model, Jamie Bochert. She’s Lotan’s ultimate muse; on her, even a chunky turtleneck has swagger. The same was true of the handful of blazers Bochert wore, either with matching trousers or baggy twill pants. In gray plaid, pinstripes, leather, or velvet—single- or double-breasted—those jackets were a big focus for Lotan, but they didn’t feel “menswear inspired” or corporate. They just felt right.
15 February 2018
Nili Lotan is the first to admit that her clothes cover a narrow spectrum. She even hesitates to use the wordfashionduring appointments, because she’s not interested in trends or creating a fantasy. Instead, she designs familiar-but-better clothes you can live in: army pants, silk blouses, cashmere sweaters. Her passion lies in tweaking the fit, fabric, or proportion, so even those “basics” look unlike anything else out there. Sweaters hang off the shoulders just so; pants have a singular slouch; shirts have wide, billowing sleeves. Those nuances might change from season to season, or they’ll persist; for instance, she’s been in the mood for ultra-wide-leg jeans for over a year now.Her big stories for Pre-Fall were prints and pants. Lotan has long been known for her trousers, and she whipped up at least a dozen new styles: Her signature army pants now come in supple leather, and there was a pair of super-flared jeans inspired by Jane Birkin. She appeared in a few photos on Lotan’s mood board, alongside other late-’60s and early-’70s style icons: Mick Jagger in a ruffled blouse, Rod Stewart in a leopard suit. There was also a woman you might recognize from recent newspapers. Dressed in a camouflage jacket with a floral scarf wrapped around her hair, she was one of the Kurdish female fighters who defeated ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, back in October. She resonated with Lotan not only as a symbol of female strength, but as a reminder of Lotan’s upbringing in the Middle East, when the streets were full of army green. Her camp-floral mash-up inspired Lotan to introduce new prints in her own collection: camo mixed with leopard, a vintage-esque floral, and a snakeskin print.If a floral blouse is the last thing you’d expect to find in Lotan’s showroom, a leopard slip dress might be a close second. Why was she suddenly drawn to bold, notice-me prints after years of neutrals? Perhaps it was the same reason there were so many suits in this collection. “There’s this feeling of self-reliance among women right now,” she said. “A suit makes you feel powerful, even if it’s just with a T-shirt.” For other women, a leopard dress might foster the same feeling, particularly with one of Lotan’s new leather jackets tossed over the shoulders.
9 December 2017
Nili Lotan has the rare ability to upgrade items that already exist—button-downs, jeans, blazers—into things you actually can’t find anywhere else. There were a lot of suits in the New York collections, for instance, but none of them looked like Lotan’s shrunken olive twill jacket and wide-leg pants—her idea of a “day suit.” For evening, she had a pearly white silk jacket and pleated, billowing trousers styled with a black bandeau, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a cocktail dress that looked so exquisitely cool.Lotan isn’t one to endorse a head-to-toe suit all the time, though. She views these blazers and pants as endlessly-mixable separates, just like her signature slips, bombers, and military pants. So she also paired those fluid ivory trousers with a black kimono—she said it looked like something Bianca Jagger might have worn on a trip to Ibiza in the ’70s—and tucked cotton, full-sleeved popover shirts into the twill pants. Those looks captured the streamlined, two-step appeal of a suit without looking like suiting at all. In a way, that’s how men get dressed, too: shirt, pants, done. It’s as fuss-free as it gets.Having just returned from Ibiza herself, Lotan also designed a few one-and-done pieces that wouldn’t require much in the way of styling at all: a red hand-embroidered linen dress and a graphic floral kimono, which could be worn belted on its own, thrown over a bikini, or left open with pants. Consider it three looks for the price of one—and the relaxed, unruffled attitude is just a bonus.
19 September 2017
Nili Lotan always jokes that she just designs clothes for herself. After nearly 15 years in business, it’s proved a winning formula. Lotan has an eye for upgraded “staples” like military pants, liquid slipdresses, and slouchy button-downs—easy, chic pieces beloved by Tribeca women and It girls alike. Her Resort collection had those women’s holiday party looks sorted: quilted jackets in burnished gold velvet, filmy lamé-striped tops, and faux fur chubbies, all grounded by black jeans.Lotan said it all started with fabrics, which she sourced to match the shine and texture she found in ’80s-era party photos. Even her parkas and quilted jackets came in glossy black satin; her customers can pick up the more rugged versions next spring. As always, the palette was mostly neutral—black, olive, dark gold, denim—with a single shot of ruby red. Fans of Lotan’s heavyweight satin slips will be excited to know she’s introducing a brand-new dress silhouette: a ruby satin sheath with a higher neckline, in both a maxi and midi length.Also new this season were the drape-y, full-sleeved blouses and satin “evening sweatshirts,” which felt like a cool alternative to a blazer or fancy top. There was a denim version of the sweatshirt, too; styled with Lotan’s popular drop-crotch jeans, the effect was that of an easy jumpsuit.
14 June 2017
For some designers, getting their clothes on the likes of Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner—two very influential women who move serious product—might galvanize them to switch gears and cater exclusively to the Instagram set. Not Nili Lotan. Her languid slip dresses have reached cult status with It girls as well as “regular” women with killer taste, many of whom discovered Lotan’s cool, unprecious label long ago. For Fall ’17, she built upon her most-loved signatures—those slips, military pants, shirting—with tweaks that will feel right for millennials and grown-ups alike.The biggest change this season was in the proportions. You’ll still find versions of Lotan’s slouchy-skinny army pants, but she also experimented with ultra-wide, mid-rise pleated trousers. She paired them with tightly belted jackets, satin kimonos, and blazers with a single button stitched slightly further to the right to create a crossover, nipped-in silhouette. Compared with the slim pants and oversize shirting of past collections, this felt like Lotan had flipped everything upside down: slim on top, baggy on the bottom. It’s also worth noting that during a week of pantsuits, no one else had one quite like Lotan’s.Also new: the plush, midnight blue faux furs. “It feels glamorous in a casual way and a really elegant, evening way, too,” Lotan said. She’s always been concerned with day-to-night dressing, and a faux-fur jacket has lately become a must-have for women looking to dress up their jeans or dress down their cocktail dresses. We have a feeling it won’t be long before Gigi steps out in Lotan’s version, ideally over the slinky velvet slip dress in the same deep navy.
17 February 2017
One of the big takeaways from Spring ’17 was the exuberance of color, from shocking pink to offbeat shades of orange and green. You can’t really say “colors” are a trend, but the tides are certainly shifting, and many designers chose hues that felt optimistic and joyful.Nili Lotan, a designer who typically prefers a palette of black, gray, and denim, was thinking along those lines for Pre-Fall. “After the election, I thought we needed a little color in our lives with all this darkness and uncertainty,” she said. “You’re not going to see pink in my collections, but I was looking for colors that would cheer me up.”Lotan’s idea of cheerful colors meant jewel tones like sapphire, emerald, and peridot, which looked gorgeous on her signature slips and camisoles. Much of the collection revolved around the idea of head-to-toe, day-to-night silk, so the timing worked out nicely; no other fabric takes color as beautifully. Lotan also introduced what may be her first printed slip dress: a slinky camouflage number with raw edges and velvet straps. It looked remarkably cool under a beat-up camo utility jacket; it’s easy to picture some of her most famous fans (Gigi,Bella,Kendall) wearing the full look. Mixed in with those fluid pieces were Lotan’s signature army pants, a shrunken bomber jacket, and a flight suit inspired by her own time in the Israeli Air Force. She explained that women who come to her store buy into both “categories”; some days, they’re feeling a floor-length slip, and others, they just want to throw on a parka and jeans.
10 December 2016
Nili Lotan’s relatively recent cachet among twenty-something, uber-It girls (see: Bella, Gigi, Kylie, and Kendall—who wore a Lotan cami out just last night), in addition to no doubt exposing a whole new demographic to the veteran designer, has helped to underscore an essential fact of the brand: Lotan is creating ageless, ultra-wearable clothing. Gigi, Inez van Lamsweerde, and Lotan all sport the same styles with ease. (And indeed, not just ageless, but genderless, too? Today’s preview found a male member of the Lotan team killing it in an NL striped shirt and trousers.)Self-expression was the order of the day here, an idea Lotan stressed particularly for Spring; by her own declaration, she’s not hoping to see full NL looks passing by her store on even the most well-heeled denizens of Tribeca. Happily, wardrobe building blocks are synonymous with the label, more often than not shot through with a touch of the fiercely personal (to wit, even Lotan’s signature army jackets nod to her own military service).This season it was the beaches of her beloved Tel Aviv, and the expanse of blue sea the designer saw from her window growing up which informed the offering, in terms of palette, yes—chambrays and denims galore—but in airy sensibility too. There were white carpenter pants in buttery washed canvas, menswear-inflected day dresses in a navy blue ticking stripe, and garment-dyed white poplin button-downs; all fresh and all impeccably executed. Execution, of course, is at the core of the label’s cultish fanbase. Any designer can do a nice chambray shirt; Lotan does a chambray popover that feels to the touch as though it’s seen years of sea and sun, rinse, repeat. Speaking of the label’s rabid following: new for Spring is the tank dress, a raw-edged, spare reworking of Lotan’s utterly languid bias-cut slip dresses. Bella, Kendall: May the best woman get her hands on it first.Another surefire sellout? Denim. Resort marked the category’s debut and this season brought with it a terrific new cut made up of reworked vintage pairs. You heard it here: Lotan’s take is some of the best repurposed denim out there right now.
8 September 2016
Just when you think you haveNili Lotanfigured out, she goes and turns out a collection to keep you guessing. This season found the designer heading outside her comfort zone (a zone brimming in blacks, whites, and grays; military jackets; and faultless cashmere) and proposing a deliciously unexpected lineup, well suited to the industry’s whirlwind romance with all things eclectic.Lotan correctly posed Resort as inherently a bit indulgent; if her shoppers are already well stocked in her signature knits and outerwear, then this is the time to pick up “a treat” or two—and treats are what she whipped up. It was her most playful offering ever: camo, pink, ruffles, fringe, faux Mongolian. In these, the designer created well-known NL silhouettes as they’ve never been seen before. Her languid, bias-cut slip dresses came in a vivid leopard spot, while utilitarian anoraks got a makeover in a soft new pastel; it took Lotan and her team 15 goes before striking on the perfect shade of smoky blush.It was easy to imagine that topper paired with cocktail attire. Indeed, evening ticked plenty of winning boxes for Lotan. Take a ’30s-inflected gown in inky-black crushed velvet, topped off with a thick rhinestonecollier; frocks in a gestural black brushstroke jacquard; and her lush “evening sweaters” with their plunging fronts and bare shoulders.On the opposite end of the spectrum was Lotan’s killer denim offering. Four of the designer’s terrific trouser styles have been reimagined in two washes; our personal favorite among the cuts is the Ena, a wide-leg flare that can be worn unbuttoned up to the knee and moves beautifully. It was just the kind of thing you wish you had to take you through summer days, but it will be well worth the wait.
2 June 2016
To visitNili Lotan’s Tribeca digs today, at the tail end ofNew York Fashion Week—which had its fair share of overwrought styling and look-at-me, both on and off the runways—was maybe the ultimate palate cleanser. Lotan’s collection served as a retrospective of her most iconic styles, the kinds of pieces she’s invested more than a decade in working and reworking. Consider a few: the white shirt, the military topper, the evening jacket, and the bias-cut slip dress (long before it was enjoying its current vogue). They were all here, all testament to Lotan’s devotion to that key distinction, style vs. fashion. She forgoes trendy pieces in favor of seasonless ones, catering to a well-rounded woman who is confident in her clothing (such as Lotan herself at this morning’s preview, looking impossibly chic in a white blouse, gray jeans, and softly fraying trench in washed black wool).Comfort, of course, goes hand in hand with confidence when it comes to getting dressed, and there wasn’t a style among today’s offerings that didn’t feel great, from day (the airiest cashmere sweaters and enzyme-washed cotton-linen trousers) to night (hammered silk T-shirts, and those aforementioned liquid-silk slip dresses, now with effortlessly draped necklines and plunging scooped backs). Militaria is a longtime motif in Lotan’s work—her way of reappropriating emblems of violence. It was traceable even beyond olive toppers, seen here also in her famous cargo trousers and a beautiful black evening jacket with a drawstring tucked into the waistband. It was exactly the kind of take on a classic that Lotan’s clientele have come to expect from her over the past 10 years. “Style evolves very slowly,” she mused, and “fashion moves too fast.” With pieces like that, though, the wait is surely worth it.
18 February 2016
In business for more than 10 years,Nili Lotanhas managed to sustain both a loyal clientele and a fresh, unaffected point of view. You could describe her look as a study in contrasts: masculine vs. feminine, slouchy vs. slim, sexy vs. covered-up. It all goes back to her belief that women should simply wear what they love, then tweak and refine their personal style. “At the end of the day, these are just normal clothes,” she said. “It’s about how you put them together.”As such, Lotan isn’t a designer who searches for disparate references each season; instead, she finds new ways to channel her muses, particularly Patti Smith. Several of the looks mirrored the blouse and skinny scarf Smith wore on the cover of her albumHorses, which was pinned to Lotan’s mood board. But there was another, less-expected woman on the wall, too: Frida Kahlo. “I was thinking about what it would look like if we combined Patti and Frida’s wardrobes,” Lotan explained. The most surprising clothes were the ones that leaned more toward Kahlo; Lotan featured more color than ever (namely shades of maroon, olive, and indigo) and riffed on traditional Mexican garments, like embroidered linen dresses and ponchos that mimicked rebozos, the fringed, blanketlike scarves Kahlo often wrapped around her shoulders. Even Lotan’s signature pieces got a Mexico-in-the-1940s update, like that charmeuse slip dress everyone’s been wearing: Here, it came in a saturated ruby red. Lotan also offered a new way to wear it, layered over a striped button-down; elsewhere, she paired a black slip with super-wide-leg ivory pants. Whether that new, slightly haphazard spin on day-to-night layering was inspired by Smith, Kahlo, or Lotan herself, it certainly reflected how women want to dress these days.
8 December 2015
It’s a stylist’s world and the rest of us may well just be living in it. But for her Spring outing,Nili Lotanharked back to a time when raw young talents were creating not only music but the kind of images that are still setting the tenor for much of what the industry strives for today—before every on-the-rise starlet had her look carefully crafted by a team of pros. Pictures of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Patti Smith lined Lotan’s mood board; the designer particularly connected with the earnestness of Vietnam War-era singer-songwriters like Baez and Mitchell, dubbing this collection Blue 1971 in an homage to the latter. Likewise, she called on her own ’70s adolescence, when she was beginning to cement the personal style that defines her brand today.Spring’s free-spirited précis fell right in step with the codes that have long kept Lotan’s followers coming back for more: slouchy army pants and jackets, gauzy bohemian tops, and floor-skimming dresses. Resort’s bewitching eveningwear, à la YSL, gave way to a mix of casual and rakishly elegant pieces, every one of them a wardrobe workhorse. The smashing sailor pants looked natty against the gritty milieu of this season’s lookbook,bien sûr, but would have plenty of Jane Birkin-esque appeal teamed with Lotan’s plunging blouses in sheer, fluttering chiffon (Serge Gainsbourg and his longtime lover made up the European contingent on the designer’s mood board). The latter drew a stark and lovely contrast to a grouping of military-tinged items, like a hardy, utilitarian-looking dress in olive drab with gorgeous lace-up detailing. Lotan may have streamlined the offering of her famously lush knits, but with the wealth of winning options here, fans are sure to find plenty to stock their wardrobes till fall.
8 September 2015
To hear Nili Lotan speak about her new collection was to get excited about it. The designer seems to have been revitalized by facing a challenge in her own wardrobe: She didn't have enough in the way of dinner dressing options. And while there are many of us who'd surely not complain if Lotan never strayed from her winning, utterly wearable lineups of great knits and slouchy trousers, Resort made one glad that she did. Lotan channeled the dark, unfussy decadence of the '70s Paris demimonde: There was a goodly dose of Betty Catroux in tie-neck blouses and riffs on Le Smoking via gorgeous tux jackets in Japanese crepe. Mock-necks were used to chic effect (as on a true stunner of a loose satin gown with French cuffs) but tempered by small slits down the back to expose a flash of skin anytime you make an exit.Lotan kicked up her heels with the fabrications here, sending out a lush spread of velvets (fringe, burnout, panne) and even a few numbers with iridescent black feathers. Lest die-hards think the Tribeca mainstay is getting too dressy, think again. This was an offering as effortlessly cool as any of Lotan's others. She's continuing to create her gorgeous knits and military pants, and even whipped up a new version of her best-selling long slipdress in—you guessed it—velvet.
10 June 2015
Nili Lotan wants to do more. The designer who's made her name on an immaculately considered selection of wardrobe staples is expanding her range to make sure she's offering her customer options for a total look. For example, Lotan has earned a rightly devoted following for her great knits, but boasted a more limited array when it came to outerwear. Fall found her addressing that in a big way. Among the standout toppers here were an array of minimalist, menswear-inspired pieces, and one terrific wool kimono jacket. Lotan rounded out her pant styles as well. To wit: new slim pull-on trousers with stem-lengthening front seams (they did wonders for the derriere, too).With her increased attention to…everything, really, Lotan pared down her palette to a New Yorker-friendly few shades: cream, gray, camel, and black. She even eschewed her usual one-per-season policy when it came to patterns—though with basics that look this good, her customer's unlikely to complain.
21 February 2015
When Nili Lotan launched her eponymous label with a spare eight-piece offering, among the styles was a utility jacket inspired by her ex-husband's Israeli Air Force jumpsuit. Lotan's take on the garment remains among her top sellers a decade later, showing her commitment to (and keen eye for) the coolly timeless. 2014 marks her brand's 10th anniversary, and for its third Pre-Fall season, Lotan turned her eye to 50 (or at least, several) shades of gray—inspired by the slate steel roofs and pale stucco of Paris' Saint-Germain neighborhood. Liquid silk tops came in a shade Lotan dubbed "fog," boiled wool, raw-edged coats in a deeper charcoal. The knit offering grew again here from last season, having performed particularly well for Lotan. It's little wonder why. Her fabrications are sumptuous, and unusual enough to stand out in a well-saturated market: nubby cashmeres, space-dyed yarns, a double cable-knit. Also stellar? A cocoon-like hoodie in olive wool. Lotan styled another version in gray jersey atop one of her hyper-sensual slipdresses—equal parts easy and elegant.
12 December 2014
"Nothing that is not functional deserves to be on a garment," Nili Lotan said with veteran authority while presenting her Spring collection. Lotan's brand is a keenly edited one, a "single, evolving identity" in which nearly every piece is a workhorse. The shapes have a consistency from season to season, but this go-round she zeroed in on whites with a particular ferocity, and the results were covetable: light cotton trenches, a boatneck in striped Irish linen with raw edges, and of course, sumptuous knits. Sweaters are always a strong suit for the designer—one that must prove fruitful, because they certainly multiplied in this collection. Ballerina sweaters, raglan-seamed sweaters, boatneck sweaters, and a cozy cocoon cardigan all looked dreamy on a tonic September morning. Then there were great anoraks, one in a sheeny, hyper-luxe Japanese nylon (which, to the touch, felt almost like a moiré), another in coated black lace. Those could play nicely at night with the designer's takes on the LBD, which came in a few styles, among them a shift, a caftan, and a slim look with a wrapped neckline. They were all chic, all wholly unadorned, and all reminders that, in Lotan's hands, less is indeed more.
11 September 2014
Since 2003, Nili Lotan has been making a name for her eponymous Tribeca-based line, sans fuss and sans gimmick. She rarely makes concessions to trends, instead opting for a smartly curated array of foundation pieces, many reprised over seasons, like her quintessential gauzy bohemian tops or flawlessly simple slipdresses. After an initial attempt offering "Resort" in a more literal sense, Lotan had the revelation that her clientele were not—apart from, perhaps, trips to Montauk or upstate—traditionally Resort-going sorts. Even those who were wouldn't necessarily associate those pieces with her brand. Since then, she's stuck with a winning formula of her classics for the season she refers to, with a laugh, as "Winter Pre-Spring." Lotan divided the offering up into two parts: cozy, handsome knitwear and outerwear that you'll want to be wearing soon after the delivery hits stores, and warmer-weather pieces like poplin anoraks and featherweight chambray tops.The former is the sweater lover's fondest dream, an embarrassment of knit riches (waffle, mohair, chunky, nubby) in a palette of olive, cream, camel, and burgundy. Lotan proposed these alongside more playful pieces like miniskirts, one in leather, another encrusted in paillettes. When the sun comes out, her customer can pop on one of the aforementioned anoraks, or into a bikini and Lotan's maxi "beach dress," a sheer cotton number inspired by a vision of young Yves Saint Laurent basking on a plage someplace. Who ever said basics were boring?
23 June 2014