Designing Outside the Lines

Nishika de Rosairo has been an artist and she’s been a dancer. She’s lived on four continents, worked as an adviser to Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley, and served as an advocate for women’s entrepreneurship. Now, as the CEO and creative director of dE ROSAIRO, she’s fulfilling a childhood dream to design her own fashion line, drawing on both her artistic and business acumen to outfit sophisticated, successful women around the globe.

The San Francisco-based label is filling a unique niche in the market, offering affordable-but-luxurious, edgy-yet-versatile pieces to ladies who want to convey power through their wardrobes. Buttery soft dresses, jackets and other separates are punched up with strong details like hoodies, irregular necklines and cutouts. Geometric seams, high structured collars and asymmetrical hemlines cut a striking yet feminine silhouette, while lush fabrics provide day-to-evening versatility for the urban fashionista. The clothes benefit from their bicoastal roots: While they boast the fashion pedigree of the city where they’re manufactured, New York, their Bay Area home provides a good dose of high-tech inspiration.

Here, Nishika talks to Red Typewriter about her early style influences, the closing gap between the casual and dress markets, and her endless fascination with the all-American hoodie.

RT: You’ve said your designs are inspired by the idea of everyday luxury. Can you elaborate?

ND: To me, everyday luxury is the day-to-day celebration of life. When you’ve worked so hard and put in those long hours over the years to reach your goals, there’s something to be said about incorporating products and experiences into your life that enrich it on a daily basis. It’s your way of rewarding YOU. Why wait for your birthday or some other special occasion to indulge in something big? Why not indulge in the smaller things that make a difference in your day-to-day life? I’ve always been a huge believer in clothes making you look, feel and act a certain way, so I care about artistry, craftsmanship and feeling luxurious in what I wear. I think every successful woman deserves that.

RT: You grew up in a creative household, with your mom making your dresses. How did this affect your personal style?

ND: My mum loved dressing my sister and me in beautiful clothes. Most of the pieces she designed and sewed, others she bought during our travels overseas. She was meticulous about making sure we had a new dress for every party. Of course, this was no simple task considering we grew up in an expatriate community where we attended multiple parties every week as a family.

Because repetition was not a concept I was familiar with, I spent many years curating my wardrobe on a very regular basis. I still bought beautiful pieces and was never quite the adopter of fast fashion trends. A few years ago, though, something shifted in me. I started to grow a deep appreciation for everyday luxury items, and having a few select lux pieces that you love, can’t live without and want to be in all the time. It was a new mindset for me, because even though I had beautiful things growing up, I didn’t know how to be in them all the time even if I wanted to. My new appreciation stemmed from the concept of being able to wear the same piece [repeatedly], yet project a different expression each time, based on how you wear the design. So while my mother influenced my love for fashion and made me understand how my presentation of self would make me look, feel and act a certain way, in the last few years I’ve found my own voice and individuality.

RT: What inspires the clothes’ edgy details, and what kind of consumer is attracted to them?

ND: I’ve heard many comments on how architectural my designs are, and I always smile when I hear this, because it wasn’t something I purposely decided to do. When I explored this projection a bit deeper, I realized that it comes down to balance. We spend the majority of our lives trying to exercise regularly, work smarter, eat healthier—trying to live a well-balanced life. And every time we’re not able to keep up, we tell ourselves we’ll try harder next time. But that’s just it: not being able to consistently keep up, that’s just life. To me, balance in life comes from things that are asymmetrical and irregular, and the more we can embrace that, the more we embrace life in its purest form. So in that sense my designs represent life in its purest and more uninhibited form. [These are] strong pieces. They embody confidence, power and success. The woman who elicits these traits is the woman who is drawn to my designs.

Power Lines: Asymmetrical hemlines figure prominently in dE ROSAIRO‘s spring/summer 2015 collection.

RT: The iconic hoodie is at the center of your debut line. Why the hoodie, and what does it bring to your collection?

ND: I love answering this question the most, because by the time I’m done sharing my answer, I typically see everyone around the room smiling and nodding. First, I need to share how I became intrigued by the hoodie when I first moved to the U.S. in 2003 to get my MBA. I was enamored by the prevalence of this iconic symbol of American culture on college campuses and in the sporting arena. Something about the confidence, anonymity and attitude of the hoodie—not to mention the comfort—fascinated me. Then, as I grew out of my college years into a professional working woman, suddenly there was no place in my wardrobe for this much-adored item. That sparked an epiphany in my mind around re-imagining the hoodie for the modern woman in a way that enables her to incorporate it into her contemporary wardrobe and effortlessly transition from “desk 2 dusk” activities. Just like Diane Von Furstenberg will always be known for inventing the wrap dress, I hope dE ROSAIRO will always be known for re-imagining the hoodie.

RT: Some fashionistas lament that with Americans becoming increasingly more casual, style has left the building. How do you feel about that, and how do your designs transcend the gap between casual and formal?

ND: If style appears to have left someone’s wardrobe, it’s likely it was never there to begin with. The truth is, casual-chic has become the new way of dressing, just like everyday luxury has become the new way of living. As our lives continue to transform with the integration of technology and social media, the irony is the world has become a smaller place, yet we have become that much busier as individuals. Nobody has the time anymore to go home after work and get changed for a cocktail event or an evening benefit. We all want to be able to transition from the office to the evening seamlessly, and this is why casual-chic has become a large essence of cosmopolitan living. It’s about being able to look fabulous all the time, with minimal effort and maximum results. That’s exactly what we have mastered at dE ROSAIRO.