Studio Nicholson designer Nick Wakeman waited 16 years to present her first runway collection, which she did this week at the ornate Hotel d’Evreux for the spring 2027 season. It’s a bit of flag-planting for the London-based company, as it continues to push further into wholesale and eyes Asia for expansion. Instead of dialing things up for her big catwalk debut, Wakeman seemingly did the opposite—she presented a clear-eyed brief on what her brand has long stood for: clothes with clarity and discernment, without being fussy or overwrought. No detail feels left to chance, and anything extraneous is excised. Which isn’t to say the clothes are boring, or plain—there’s just a purity of line and an assuredness of vision.
She held a runway show, “to see the clothes move,” she said in the show notes, adding, “I like the idea that it’s live and not just another static image.” Additionally, the notes had a list of inspirations or muses, including the song “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini in tailoring, and the architect Tadao Ando and his team in 1989.
Architecture is a good starting point, as there’s a strong sense of form and structure in her clothes. As a Brit, there’s also a gentle gesture of tailoring—or the idea of tailoring—in her clean, straightforward silhouettes. There’s also a rigor and formality in her thoughtful fabric choices, clean silhouettes, and mellow palette of black, gray, brown, navy, and pops of red.
The show was dual gender and opened with a man in a micro-striped button-up shirt and her longtime best-selling pleated pants, cut somewhere between straight and wide-leg. He was followed by a woman in mid-waist trousers and a black, tab-collar shirt half-tucked in. Iterations of these familiar garments were presented in a tightly edited show of just 30 looks, which, in essence, suggested a modular wardrobe. You could imagine an art gallery owner or, yes, an architect in these, appreciating the intention and care with which they are made.
Which isn’t to say they lack drama or personality. No, in the looser pant shapes and the extended line of a shirt, there’s a bit of grace and self-confidence. There were plenty of terrific looks: a loosely-cut brown double-breasted suit, a mariner stripe shirt tucked into flowing pants, and a suede straight-cut coat and cropped leather jacket for men, while, for women, a knit polo worn with a floor-length skirt in a satin-y material in a matching color and a utility shirt worn over a knee-length skirt were particularly alluring. But it’s hard to call out highlights in a collection so tautly constructed and thoughtfully rendered. It may have taken Wakeman 16 years to get here, but it was worth the wait.
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