The major fashion runway trends for women who dress up this year are pretty and feminine. There is a strong tendency both in Europe and the United States to emphasize the silhouette of a woman's figure by providing a sophisticated drape. At the same time, many designers are working hard to cover up any figure flaws a woman may not want to display.
The style is simple, basic, and elegant.One of the most popular dresses by several designers is the fishtail, a spare design using soft, smooth material worn close to the body but keeping the flow and fulness in the back. Nicole Miller is the pioneer designer of this style which is taking the country by storm.
In 1975, Nicole Miller, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, went to work as head designer for P.J. Walsh, a contemporary dress and sportswear manufacturer. For seven years, Miller worked to establish herself as a world class silhouette designer. In fact, for six years, she draped every dress herself. By 1982, she had established her reputation for "body camouflage" and her ability to create original artwork and translate it into print fabric.
Then she and Bud Konheim purchased P.J. Walsh and changed the name to Nicole Miller. In 1986, she opened her first free-standing boutique on Madison Avenue in New York. Today, there are 27 stores around the world, including new ones in Kansas City, Mo.; LaJolla, Calif.; Las Vegas; and Miami. A new one will open soon in Seattle.
In Salt Lake City, the Nicole Miller outlet at Trolley Square is owned by Jennifer Gibbons. Despite her long hours, Gibbons is unapologetically enthusiastic about her job and the Miller line. She loves the fact that Miller herself is so "hands-on," and pays close attention to clothing construction. "She attends to every detail," says Gibbons.
Miller's press release says "she is her own best customer, who pulls on every one of her skirts, slips into every one of her dresses, tugs at hems and necklines, redesigning until they look fabulous." Miller says she can't expect her designs to work for her customers unless they work for her.
A glamorous 45-year-old redhead prone to short, black skirts, Miller is also a recent mom - last March - and the creator of colorful, whimsical drawings that show up on everything from ties and scarves to jacket linings and even a race car.
Gibbons says "Nicole Miller is an attitude. It's fun, free, willing to try something new, clothes that make you feel gorgeous."
Although Miller herself bills her clothes as "young," Gibbons says the regular clientele for the Salt Lake store is hard to pinpoint. Gibbons sells to women fromall over the Salt Lake Valley as well as Utah County. She sells to a few high school students, many college students, and to a host of the young and middle-aged. At 52, Gibbons proclaims herself a devoted Miller clotheshound who has always wanted to be Barbra Streisand.
"When I go to a black-tie event, I wouldn't think of wearing anything but a Nicole Miller."
While Gibbons was talking, an 82-year-old regular customer dropped by.
Gibbons says her personal vision for Nicole Miller - "in the windows of my mind" - is the old Salt Lake store she used to frequent - Auerbachs. "This store is not the size of Auerbachs, but I could go there and find a gift for my mother-in-law, my husband, my children and even a dress I could wear. All in one store. With Nicole's line - her fragrance, polos, socks, everything from a few dollars to a thousand, you get something versatile, to wear to college or to work."
Other designers say Miller's ultimate strength is her ability to design great-looking fabric and then drape it appealingly around a woman's body. Amanda Murphy, a U. college student and Miller sales clerk, loves the Miller line. "Nicole Miller clothes are great, because you can fit so many body types into it. It's a timeless style and shape. This season she has surprised everyone with bright colors and prints to coincide with the `basics' dress and suit collections, adding much `attitude.' The fabrics she uses are based on comfort, fit, durability and shape."
Melinda Boswell, another young college student and clerk, says, "Most of Nicole's styles are classics that won't go out of style from season to season. The fabrics of her basic evening dresses are a year-round versatile style, and the dresses have an exceptional fit and quality about them."
Although the fishtail style has been selling in Miller's stores for at least a year, it has become the trend dress for fall shown by all major designers.
"It has all the flow and fullness in the back," says Gibbons. "All of Nicole's designs are beautiful and plain, but they also have some kind of flair. She is obviously ahead of other designers. The newest fishtail dress has a color inset in the back."
Gibbons says many of her customers are people who just discovered Nicole Miller.
"Most customers have heard about us or have been in search of something and are tired of finding fluff and frill. They want something they will be comfortable in and still look dressed up and beautiful. Some say, `I can't believe there is a Nicole Miller in Salt Lake - how did you get here?' "
The prices in the Salt Lake store currently range from $300 to $660. Occasionally, a dress sells for as much as $1,000, but it is usually special-ordered. Many people make special orders for bridesmaid dresses that are styish enough to wear to a dance after the wedding. The dresses arrive in one or two days.
Gibbons says, "These dresses are so beautiful they're worth it. They fit incredibly well. If they were to bag on some women, there is a shoulder seam that can be tucked. It can be taken in just a little bit very easily. The dresses drape the body well but camouflage any flaws."
Miller has always said that most women know they need to play down parts of their bodies. "I'm always trying to camouflage things, to make sure the body looks the best. Very few women have a perfect body."
In a constant effort to make sure she continues to design clothes that flatter different women, Miller loans samples to friends, asks employees to wear them, and even stops by her Madison Avenue and Soho boutiques several times a week and waits on customers herself.
Nicole Miller's most interesting sidelight is her sale of limited edition men's ties in a store ordinarily devoted to women's clothing. It is common for women buying clothing at Miller's to pick up a tie for their husbands or for men shopping for their wives to pick out a tie for themselves.
Originally, the ties were made from unsuccessful dress prints, but now they represent a great variety of beautiful, unique, specialized prints and designs, many of them coinciding with occupations - the dentist, the cigarmaker, the bookworm, the golfer. Soon, the ties will include animal prints, now available in women's clothing.
For many patrons the Miller prints are the big draw. Lillian Silcox, another Salt Lake Miller sales clerk, says "Although Nicole's `little black dress' comes in many colors and can go from office to evening, it's been nice to have her design separates for office and active wear with prints to liven up the color."
Miller introduced her signature short black cocktail dress in 1987, then went on to become recognized for her exquisitely draped clothes. She illustrates her trademark emphasis on simplicity by saying, "Women who work wear suits. But there are enough black suits out there, so I try to give mine a twist - strong color or an altered cut so it doesn't look like a man's suit." Often, she does this with textile prints, geometric shapes and three dimensional illusions.
Nicole Miller has a way of starting trends. Her designs are simple, sleek, comfortable and elegant.