There are certain moments in building Nina that make me stop and think about how far this little idea between two sisters has traveled. Seeing our capes on display at Neiman Marcus Tampa Bay was one of them.
This month, Nina Nieves is part of a special exhibit at Neiman Marcus Tampa Bay in partnership with Tampa Bay Fashion Week, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and local Hispanic designers. Three of our pieces are featured: the Rouge Siena, the Adele and the Royal. Walking into Neiman Marcus and seeing them there felt surreal.
Karol and I started Nina Nieves in 2020. There was no grand roadmap. We knew we loved fashion, we shared a very specific point of view, and we wanted to create something together that felt like us. Our Puerto Rican heritage and the women in our family have always been part of that story, even when we are not explicitly talking about them in every collection. That is why being included in this particular exhibit means so much.
I also loved the three pieces selected because, together, they show just how differently we have interpreted the cape. The Rouge Siena is fluid and dramatic in silk chiffon, definitely a showstopper. The Adele is shorter and structured in vegan leather, edgy but classy. The Royal is our take on a more traditional long cape, tailored and timeless. Three very different expressions of the silhouette that started Nina Nieves.
But my favorite part of the experience had very little to do with the clothes. I got to stand there with my sister, Karol, and my daughter Adele. Karol and I have dreamed, designed and built Nina Nieves together from the very beginning. There was something particularly meaningful about celebrating our heritage side by side, with Adele there to experience the moment with us. The women in our family have shaped so much of who we are and, in turn, Nina Nieves. To share a moment like this as sisters, with the next generation standing alongside us, made it even more special.
We are incredibly grateful to Tampa Bay Fashion Week, especially Nancy Vaughn of White Book Agency, for continuing to create opportunities for independent designers, and to Neiman Marcus Tampa Bay for giving Hispanic designers a place to be seen and celebrated during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Five years into Nina Nieves, there are still plenty of days when Karol and I are simply working through the next collection, the next fitting, the next photograph or the next idea. Then every once in a while, something happens that makes you look up. This was one of those moments.
If you are in Tampa, be sure to stop by Neiman Marcus and see the exhibit in person.
KJS
