About us

  Nina

It was great growing up with the certainty that I would become a lawyer, minister for justice eventually. That's why after my A-levels I did a trainee in advertising, briefly studied philosophy (emphasis on 'briefly') and eventually moved to London to study Fashion Promotion. I can't pinpoint exactly, but one memorable occasion was in the Hamptons at the beach, flicking idly through the Style section of the New York Times. A breathtaking image of a black Chanel couture dress, but a shadow on a moody day on the Seychelles. The caption just read 'Dress, Chanel, made to order'. Sod the law, I was sold.

After college I narrowly avoided the politics of fashion magazines and ended up in the politics of news TV. As the fashion and luxury goods reporter and producer I never made it to the Seychelles, and instead looked at stock prices and tried to find a correlation to their handbags. Following TV-land I ended up as a vintage hunter and volunteer for a humanist think-tank, the Oxford Muse of Dr. Theodore Zeldin, for whom I did a series of conversations with promising designers and fashion pros. I could ramble on, but this was the foundation for Nina and Lola in 2007.

My dog, woodland creatures, the three essential Cs (cake, coffee, chocolate), walkies, my friends, swimming in the sea, my family, the Hamptons, Hamburg, the Tate Modern, Café Gitane, APC, Ladurée, Etsy, Glee, The Women, finding Space Invaders, Pop, the Charlie Brown soundtrack, The Beautiful and Damned, Descartes, Malkovich, sleeping.    

Lola

Lola Mannequin is, sorry: 'was', the pretty face of the site. Since moving in with me from County Ebay she gained a fan club amongst customers and even fashion editors, so much so that Lola starred in a photo shoot for online publication fashion156. Sadly, Lola and I had ongoing creative differences due to her stuck-up ways and diva attitudes. Insisting to be carried everywhere and being dressed is ok when you are the best, but over the years the cracks started to show.

Fashion is a harsh bitch, and eventually some younger, more dynamic girls moved in on Lola’s patch. An unfortunate incident during the first shoot with ‘real’ models led to Lola’s retirement to the attic. Her retirement comes at a crucial time in her career, as Lola last season started to receive invitations to fashion shows. Seated.