INTERVIEW BY HAL RUBENSTEIN, GABRIEL GLOBAL STYLE DIRECTOR
If what’s on the runway has you confused right now, you’re not alone. Concepts abound. Collections bursting with explosions of volume clash with others stretching fabric tightly against the body.
These designers obscure the torso. Those designers adore peek-a-boo cutouts. The dilemma, however, is not which concept fits your body, but suits your life? Nicole Miller makes it easy for you. She doesn’t offer concepts.
Miller makes clothes, ones that cool girls want to wear and when they become cool women, still trust. Though Miller loves patterns and prints, there’s a simplicity to Miller’s silhouettes that ignores seasonality and trendiness. When does a leather bomber worn over a flirty, draped dress not look exactly right? Beats me, which is why after forty years, Miller’s customer base just keeps expanding.
“I like to think I now dress both mother and daughter.” When you look at our photo shoot featuring Miller’s dresses paired with some of Gabriel’s newest pieces, we think you’re sure to agree.
GET THE LOOK – AS SEEN ON MODEL
14K White Gold Diamond Cluster Tennis Necklace
14K Yellow Gold Bujukan Diamond Elongated Oval Signet Ring
14K White-Yellow Gold Diamond Locket Necklace
INTERVIEW WITH NICOLE MILLER
What surprised you most about the industry post-pandemic?
I was never one for sweatclothes. I wore jeans throughout the pandemic. And I’m not one for working from home in a bathrobe either, so I was happy to return to street clothes again but the speed with which women went back to dressy dresses again was an incredibly quick about face. We had read that we were going to stay buried in cashmere sweats forever, but it wasn’t true at all.
But is the mood towards dressing up the same as before we were forced to take a break?
Not at all. Everything we are selling is ultra-sexy. Women want their clothes tighter, shorter. They want to show more skin. A few years before Covid, we couldn’t sell one piece that showed skin with a cut out. Now it’s mainstream. We’ve gone from zero to sixty in no time.
“I love the layered necklaces. I love their delicacy. It looks feminine without being too girly. Multiple bracelets look wonderful. With earrings, hoops work with everything, and I’m a real fan of huggies.”
—Nicole Miller
Why do you think that this happened?
Pent up frustration after two years of isolation. Also, I think it’s easier right now to focus on getting dressed up than to get an accurate read on daytime. Is it leggings, or wide pants, high boots, or platform sneakers?
What do you recommend?
I don’t think there needs to be a demarcation. I would like to think that we’re finally past the “What to wear when” stage in fashion. I always refused to acknowledge those magazine features about what to wear in your 20s, 30s 40s as if there were lines you couldn’t cross.
People should dress in what they enjoy wearing, in clothes that fit their body type and their personality, not their age. I don’t like when people go on social media and chide someone as being “too old to wear that” or for not “growing old gracefully.” What does that mean anyway? Frankly, it’s just jealousy that someone had more courage than the person making the accusation.
Women do this far more to each other than men.
Absolutely. We are much more prone to criticism. Women are now finally becoming more supportive of other women, especially younger generations.
“I find the jewelry in the shoot so elegant and chic and complementary to my clothing. Your pieces are special and unique yet not overpowering. The aspect I really like is that they can be styled for day or evening. What’s also lovely is that they have a timeless quality.”
—Nicole Miller
From the look of the dresses we shot for Gabriel photo shoot, your customer appears to be getting younger.
You’re right. Our customer base is getting younger, probably averaging in her mid-30s, which allows us to design for a woman less set in her ways, less likely to say, “I can’t wear this print,” more likely to be playful and diverse in her wardrobe.
Is there any advice you have for women that works regardless of age, skin color or silhouette?
Understand your body type. Focus on your best assets. Everyone has at least one, whether it’s legs, shoulders, cleavage and call attention to it. Resist the current trend to look oversexed.
Hold something back. Vintage is fun but as accent pieces. Don’t rehash the past. When you travel, cotton is the fabric to rely on. You can’t go wrong with a black boyfriend shirt. It always helps to accessorize with pieces you’ve come to love and trust.
What jewelry do you love and trust? For our photo shoot, we showed your dresses with lots of our new layered Gabriel necklaces, pendants, chains and lockets as well as multiple earrings and bangles.
I love the layered necklaces. I love their delicacy. It looks feminine without being too girly. Multiple bracelets look wonderful (though not when I’m working because I need to keep my hands free). With earrings, hoops work with everything, and I’m a real fan of huggies.
We hope Gabriel & Co have done your clothes proud.
I find the jewelry in the shoot so elegant and chic and complementary to my clothing. Your pieces are special and unique yet not overpowering. The aspect I really like is that they can be styled for day or evening. What’s also lovely is that they have a timeless quality.
