Nearly 45 years after starting her fashion brand in the garment district, Nicole Miller is still all-in on New York.
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Miller → start → York
Four days a week, the designer treks from her Tribeca apartment to her Seventh Avenue office building — the same one where she built her fashion collection nearly 45 years ago.
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she → trek → collection
Under Miller’s influence, New Yorkers began grabbing up the “boho chic” staples — hobo bags, wide-leg jeans, velvet slip dresses, and romantic, billowing blouses — that still influence American style today.
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that → begin → style
But before Miller built a brand worth nearly $700 million or dressed celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Beyoncé, she was like many high schoolers: making her clothes on a sewing machine at home in the Berkshires.
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she → build → Berkshires
That led to studying at the Rhode Island School of Design, where classmates included future bohemian icons like David Byrne and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads.
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classmates → lead → Heads
After graduating in 1973, Miller beelined it to New York City.
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Miller → graduate → City
“Where else would you go?” she asked — or score a one-bedroom Upper East Side apartment for $240 a month?
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she → go → 240
(Fourth-floor walkups in the neighborhood now run about $3,500.)
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walkups → run → 3,500
Off-hours were spent at Studio 54, Max’s Kansas City, roller-skating at The Roxy, and attending Andy Warhol’s blind-date dinners at The Odeon, where everyone brought a blind date for someone else.
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everyone → spend → someone
Miller became part of that artistic downtown scene through her college friends, meeting the pop art king through photographer Paige Powell.
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Miller → become → Powell
After early gigs as a design assistant, Miller joined the New York dress company P.J. Walsh, where she first met Bud Konheim, a brutally frank and fast-talking executive.
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she → join → Konheim
Though Miller was generally soft-spoken and relaxed, she found they made a good business pair, and in 1982, the duo quit their jobs to launch her namesake company.
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duo → find → company
Konheim scraped together $100,000 from family and friends, and Miller pitched in $15,000 from her personal savings.
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Miller → scrap → savings
The risk was worth it: The brand struck gold in its first year with an easy-to-wear dress that flattered the body by draping easily across the waist, appearing almost belted at the hips.
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that → strike → hips
Her knack for making women feel relaxed but glamorous took off, and she racked up $5 million in sales in the first year.
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she → make → year
Meanwhile, Miller was hitting the town with friends Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City, and Balthazar restaurateur Keith McNally.
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Miller → hit → Lights
As for how she met her longtime friend Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City?
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she → meet → Sex
“Well,” Miller said, “Candace used to date my husband.”
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Candace → say → husband
Everybody was drinking too much,” she said.
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she → drink → much
Being in such creative company fueled Miller’s own vision, and after her first hit dress became a magnet for cheap knockoffs, she imagined something new: designer ties for both men and women.
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she → fuel → men
They took off in the late 1980s, when a security guard in Miller’s former Madison Avenue store wore a tie printed with ticket stubs to his night job at the Metropolitan Opera.
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guard → take → Opera
A Met staffer noticed the flashy neckwear, and the historic music hub soon placed a hefty order for its gift shop.
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hub → notice → shop
Within two years, Miller’s novelty neckties became a $12 million business, with brands like Frito Lay and Veuve Clicquot wanting to collaborate.
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brands → become → Lay
“In the beginning, nobody was territorial about their logos,” Miller said.
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Miller → say → logos
“But with the candy tie” — a bestselling design featuring chocolate snacks hand-drawn by Miller and her team on silk — “we had M&M’s, Hershey’s, Nestlé, and Mars.
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we → feature → M&M
They were like, ‘Thank you for making us a tie, but next time don’t put us with our competitors.’”
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us → thank → competitors
Miller’s booming tie business unexpectedly led to love.
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business → lead → love
After a meeting with Absolut about their own custom cravats, one executive cajoled Miller into making her first-ever wedding gown for his friend, along with a series of bridesmaid dresses.
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executive → cajole → dresses
“I couldn’t say no because it was Absolut Vodka,” Miller said with a laugh.
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Miller → say → laugh
At the wedding, she met her husband, Kim Taipale, a former investment banker and lawyer.
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she → meet → husband
They married in 1996, with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani officiating at City Hall.
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Giuliani → marry → Hall
“We had Champagne and caviar afterward,” she said.
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she → have → Champagne
“He was such a good mayor, and now he’s gotten so weird.”
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he → get → ?
When wedding trends loosened up, the designer started offering some of her evening dresses in white.
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designer → loosen → white
Then shoppers started asking for some of her cocktail dresses for bridesmaids, so she whipped up a bridesmaid dress line.
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she → ask → line
“We kept getting asked to do these things.
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We → keep → things
It happened spontaneously,” she said.
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she → happen → ?
Meanwhile, the tie revenue allowed her to spend more on runway shows and cast major 1990s supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista, turning the media spotlight on the designer.
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her → allow → designer
It’s funny, because some of the second-tier models were always a little attitude-y,” she said.
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she → ’ → models
(Ever the professional, Miller declined to name names, but did share that Tyra Banks was “one of the nicest models ever.”)
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Banks → decline → models
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
