“…What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.” So the writer of Ecclesiastes postulates. And for her pre-fall 2017, Nicole Miller expands on this point of view, but with a twist.
The punk aesthetic found its way back into runway collections for 2013 evidenced in collections by Versace, Vivienne Tam, Custo Barcelona, Alexander McQueen, and others. Editors were inundated with studded and zippered leather jackets, bags, footwear and shirts. Even the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art paid homage to punk with its “Chaos to Couture” exhibit.
Nicole Miller revisits punk culture for her pre-fall 2017 collection, a sharp departure from the frilly feminine looks we’ve come to expect from Miller. Miller took her pre-fall 2017 collection out of her lovely showroom in the Garment District and opted to showcase the collection at Daredevil Tattoo on the Lower Eastside.
Punk culture is highly compatible with tattoos and piercings and Miller takes advantage of this marriage, playing off youth culture’s current obsession with tattoos. And by pairing safety pins, metal studs, tartans with tattoos and piercings, Nicole Miller is on the right track to the more edgy version of the downtown fashionista.
Still, Nicole Miller takes this pre-fall collection beyond piercings, tattoos and punk culture. Miller’s girl is always chic and sophisticated which in previous season was translated into that stylish consumer who didn’t take a lot of risks. With this collection Miller has found her edgy oeuvre, going back to her roots, so to speak, of when she launched her brand in the early 1990s.
Images courtesy of Nicole Miller/Think PR
Though this pre-fall 2017 collection is the polar opposite of what Miller has been presenting, there is retail value in the collection, particularly in some of the separates and footwear and handbag accessories. Standout looks in the collection include Miller’s black silk jumpsuit, pinstriped duster coat, and punk minidress with safety pins and padded shoulders.
—William S. Gooch
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