Nally & Millie
At a time when many apparel companies are branching into edgier styles for women’s separates, Nally & Millie, a missy contemporary line that focuses on the latest styles and fashion trends, is giving its customer a reason to shop.
“I never underestimate the intelligence of my customers; they know what they want and they want fashion to be fun,” said designer Nally Park, who co-owns the company with her husband, James.
Nally & Millie is geared toward women between the ages of 19 and 60, said Park. The collection is designed and produced at the company’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
Park said being a fashion designer is something she always wanted to do. Prior to Nally & Millie, she worked as a buyer and sales merchandiser for department store chains and specialty stores in Los Angeles. She and her husband launched their own novelty accessories company in the late ’80s. Park said she used some of the embellishments on her T-shirts and jeans, which led the designer to create a sportswear collection.
The line, which has more than 800 pieces and wholesales between $8 and $129, features ruffled skirts, long-sleeved ruffle slacks with European scenes, crystal-embellished tops, long velvet coats with faux-fur collars, sleeveless shirts with ostrich feather collars and novelty T-shirts with vibrant photo- real prints.
For Spring 2003, Park added a palette of floral green and pale blue to Capri styles as well as hand-painted tops and bottoms.
Nally & Millie has more than 300 specialty store accounts on the West Coast and in the Southwest, including She in San Francisco, Ron Herman-Fred Segal Melrose in Los Angeles, Dimensions in Houston and the Boutique in Midland, Texas. The collection is sold at better boutiques only, said Park.
“I’ve made it a specialized business in part because I don’t want my customers to worry about competing with a department store for better prices,” she said.
That kind of business thinking has earned Nally & Millie a nomination for best designer of the year two years in a row (beginning in 2001) by the Dallas Mart Fashion Awards Association.
Nally & Millie has showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. For more information, call (213) 488-3371 or visit the Tara Riddle Showroom in suite A-355 of the California Market Center. —Claudia Figueroa
