New York — Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons had some advice for Nicky Hilton before her big debut Sunday at New York Fashion Week: She had to deliver.
To be taken seriously as a designer, Hilton had to show that she was not just another celebrity who wanted to see her name on a collection — despite the success of her handbag line in Japan and the sportswear collection she launched three years ago.
“She’s been very dedicated for all these years,” said Simmons before the show. “I think for her it’s a real passion. She’s seriously invested her time.” Hilton showed she was serious Sunday night with her collection Nicholai (which is her real name). With her parents beaming from the front row, models pranced down the runway in outfits alternating between bourgeois — including a black silk cape over a white dress shirt paired with mini-shorts — and flirty, such as a black strapless dress wrapped in tulle.
She mixed it up with bandeau bikinis, summer dresses in bright colors, such as tangerine and fuschia, and silk jersey evening gowns.
She managed to take each piece in her collection upscale, adding accents such as a chain belt to a romper and making a pair of those signature mini-shorts sparkle with silver. The 23-year-old fashionista even added chain embroidery to an emerald jersey dress.
Big sister Paris was not at the show. Her father said she was working.
The collection, he said, was all Nicky.
