Nili Lotan, the brand, is turning 20 this year. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Nili Lotan, the woman, is looking back at the two original inspirations that have grounded her label. The first is what she calls “a rock ’n’ roll sexiness,” and the second a military (“but not in a militant way”) aesthetic deriving from the air force flight suit her husband used to wear as a pilot, and the two years the designer herself spent in the army.
Lotan’s fall delivery was her at her purest (and most edited). Her preoccupation for the past 20 years has been delivering a wardrobe for her woman. “As I move from one season to another,” Lotan said at her Tribeca studio, “it’s basically one collection that I started in 2003, 20 years of essentially the same frame of mind, looking to give a woman eclecticness within her same world.” The eclectic touch this season was a run of very cool oversized shearling coats, which fulfilled their mission of elevating this assortment.
“I’m having a bit of a problem with the ’90s,” Lotan said with a laugh, “so I am playing with ’90s jackets with rock ’n’ roll bottoms, creating my own version of a time that is now.” Her proportions this season worked. Her slim pants flaring at the bottom balanced the hefty jackets, and her cropped jackets paired well with wide pleated menswear trousers, though Lotan doesn’t really need to offer a ’90s redux. The Nili Lotan woman is a timeless dresser, she is more focused on building up a solid wardrobe of essentials than collecting fashion’s trendy item of the week.
“What was the ’90s nineties?" Lotan continued. “It’s about now. What is it that a woman needs today?” Here’s to 20 more years of figuring that out.
