Soap, Swarovski crystals and laurel leaf nails — when Sylvie Macmillan was a manicurist, collaborating with the biggest names in fashion and print media, her specialty was the ornate. She drew inspiration from sofas and birds, and everything in between.
Yet, it was a minimalist creation, the translucent, neutral-toned nails seen on French film star Mati Diop in Phoebe Philo‘s Collection C campaign, that went viral and earned high praise as “the set of the season” this year.
The reaction wasn’t completely unexpected, though the timing was ironic, said the 34-year-old artist. “I mean, (the alternating colors) is nothing new at all. It’s also simple to do as someone who’s going to a salon,” she told WWD. “It’s just funny that the last nail job I did got so much press and coverage, just as I’m trying to be known for something else.”
Mati Diop’s nails by Sylvie Macmillan in Phoebe Philo Collection C.
After nine long years, Macmillan is now trading nails for homeware, candleabras, custom art and merch, all under her new eponymous brand. She’s moving full speed ahead, offering a Christmas catalogue chock-full of decor just as complex and eclectic as the manicures she’d once designed. “I started to get itchy feet,” Macmillan said of her decision to leave the industry. “I wanted to start making things that would last forever, and seeing how that would push me in my work, and make me understand my taste.”
Similar to this new venture, Macmillan’s foray into nails was inspired by a feeling of unfulfillment. She’d been working as a set designer, with a background in technical arts and special effects, but soon realized she wasn’t “making enough” and that the role wasn’t as creatively stimulating as she’d hoped. Nails were a natural integration.
“I went into it knowing that I wanted to be a session manicurist. I’d always enjoyed the fantasy aspect of fashion and working from a mood board,” she explained. “So, at the beginning, I was sort of putting things up on my Instagram that I was making and reaching out to loads of stylists, and people who I thought had a sort of similar visual board to mine.”
Sylvie Macmillan’s laurel tree nails.
Sylvie MacMillan
Macmillan soon found her niche in the avant-garde. Though nails were more of a nascent art at the time, especially in Europe, a growing entrant was willing to experiment. “People were open to different ideas,” she noted. “I kind of felt like I was at the right place, at the right time with the right skill set. I was showing people a menu of what they could use to enhance the shoot as well. Sometimes you just have to show people what their options are.” And show she did.
From stone faces to pearl charm tips, Macmillan’s imagination ran beyond the bounds of natural beauty, marrying organic animation with sculpture techniques. A particular favorite of hers was a set she’d constructed for “Altered States,” in which she’d explored the harmonious relationship between car paint and nail polish, attaching spiraling nails to a model’s thumbs; the fiery red tips tornadoing as she gripped the steering wheel.
Red nails for “Altered State” by Sylvie Macmillan.
Anton Gottlob
Macmillan immersed herself in make-believe, admiring how nails could enliven a fantasy version of herself. “I think it’s sort of a moment of autonomy. Quite often, for women, it’s the only time in the month that they really get to choose something for themselves and use their conviction in figuring out what they like,” she said.
Indeed, nail art isn’t permanent. “There’s something very beautiful in the way that creating nails for fashion is sort of transient,” Macmillan noted. “But you know, fashion is here today and gone tomorrow, where nails for fashion are here today and gone the same day.”
To that end, Macmillan knew she wanted to create art that could withstand the test of time, in a tangible sense, and pieces that would someday help her generate passive income. The next era of her namesake brand is the first step in doing so. Already, she’s gearing up to host her first pop-up in Hoxton, London, at the end of November and has plans to launch lightning and cutlery soon.
“It’s been fun to design, and it’s been such a learning curve to go from working as such a team when you’re in fashion to just having to have belief in yourself. It’s quite crazy,” she said.
