Kai Milla: Custom-Designed for a Celebrity Clientele
Kai Milla spares no expense when it comes to designing her eponymous highend line. Every detail—custom-designed prints onto leather, invisible seams on the inner lining of garments, and lush fabric with textures such as woven cashmere— is important to the designer.
“I’m so into movement and the way things flow and the way that it falls on a woman’s body,” said Milla, who uses silk charmeuse, silk organza, silk taffeta and gabardine fabrications. “It’s important to pull in the right fabrications to make that happen.”
The designer interprets clothing through an artistic eye and pulls inspiration from art and the look of the 1940s. Her sculptural perspective can be seen in balloon-sleeved boleros, high-standing collars and the tailored lines in her jackets. Milla’s designs retail from $300 for a silk organza blouse to $600 for tailored skirts.
The strongest area of Milla’s design is red-carpet-ready dresses, with long, draping skirts that move like water ripples and corsets squeezing as small as a 21-inch waist. Cocktail dresses have the right amount of flair through controlled volume and crisp color, and her subtle hourglass-shaped long gowns draw attention to the wearer rather than the dress.
Milla, who is married to musician Stevie Wonder, has built a clientele from within the celebrity circle, including actress Eva Mendes; LaTanya Richardson, wife of actor Samuel L. Jackson; and Keisha Whitaker, wife of actor Forest Whitaker.
“I don’t necessarily say I have something to prove [because I am the wife of a celebrity],” said Milla. “It’s an interesting time in fashion. There are so many people who have other talent who have come into the fashion industry.”
Before taking up fashion design, Milla studied fine arts at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in her hometown of Washington, D.C., and worked as an art director for a record label in New York.
Milla presented her second collection, Spring 2006, during New York Fashion Week in September. Though the company is based in Los Angeles, the designer opted to show in New York because she identified the collection with an East Coast market.
“I knew once we continued to present the collection, they would begin to see that I’m not just a celebrity wife, but [they were] dealing with someone who does have a talent for fashion.”
For more information, call (310) 276-4300. —Rhea Cortado
