Each season, Nili Lotan muses on the same inspirations: rock ‘n’ roll a la Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, Yves Saint Laurent in the ’70s, western Americana and the formality of a military uniform. “I started this in 2003 and I just keep evolving,” she said. She leads with intuition rather than following trends, and she recalibrates on what has worked and then fills in gaps for her urban customer’s wardrobe. So what makes pre-fall different then? It’s the extra dose of military, seen throughout with camouflage prints on pants and jackets and an olive green anorak.
Lotan shared that she creates by developing a full look rather than pieces, considering how a real woman dresses, illustrating how garments are layered. Her love for denim, perennially an important category, is displayed in the additions of gray and black washes and jackets and shirting, rounding out the assortment. Her silhouette this season came in three iterations. First, oversize but not “skater,” with larger pants and navy blazers that read TriBeCa cool. Next, super fitted, seen on a double-breasted blazer and band jacket that reinforced her ’70s rock star tendencies. And third, a combo, with a bigger pant and shrunken knit on top.
Prints, she jokingly shared, aren’t her thing, but she does offer a few classics, with stars on blouses and animal print on scarves. Accessories is where she’s expanding her customer’s worldview. Handbags came to market this year, which she said are bestsellers, so naturally she added a few new larger styles this season. She introduced footwear this year with sneakers and “soon” she’ll expand that category, too.
