Nia Kinh: Vintage and Casual
Nia Nguyen got her start in T-shirts by working on Ron Herman’s basic knits line, More, and in the knits division of 7 For All Mankind. Last year, Nguyen launched her own knit tops line, Nia Kinh, which is inspired by the combination of vintage silhouettes and casual knits fabric. “I got the idea from Chloe’s dresses in the 1950s,” Nguyen said of a pleated Milano-wool knit top in her line. “It was only pleated on the arm and shoulder. I reinterpreted it to a basic.”
The designer starts with a traditional body and adds a “fashion twist,” such as a gray Supima jersey scoop-neck shirt that features an oversize twisted collar. The pairing of knit and woven fabric, such as silk charmeuse bell sleeves on a viscose knit scoop-neck top and cotton voile shoulder panels on a Supima cotton tee, adds a dressier quality to the knit-based bodies.
While Nia Kinh is solely novelty bodies, Nguyen also produces a line of basic T-shirts that she sells to specialty stores for private-label programs.
Nia Kinh has been sold to Ron Herman’s Melrose Avenue store; La Bella in Long Beach, Calif.; and Out of the West in Chicago. Wholesale price points range from $34 for a tank up to $67 for a gathered boat-neck top in vintage-gauge fabric.
For more information, contact the Lily Kate Showroom, located in suite 211 of the Cooper Design Space, at (213) 488-9229. —R.C.
