15 Questions for 15 Years with Nick Wakeman

To mark the 15th Anniversary of Studio Nicholson, our Founder & Creative Director Nick Wakeman, talks to Simon Chilvers, to answer 15 Questions for 15 Years.

"The clothing brand for men and women, Studio Nicholson, founded by Nick Wakeman in 2010, turns 15 this year. Having just opened a new store on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, East London, it seems like a good time to sit down with Nick and talk to her about this latest venture and how she sees the way that Studio Nicholson has evolved during this decade and a half." - Simon Chilvers, Editor.

For Nick everything begins with fabrics. ‘I am infatuated with the idea of the ordinary in place of any kind of fantasy,’ she told me recently. Her obsession with perfecting the classics, reinvigorating their details and modernising them has been central to building up a robust and gutsy wardrobe that has attracted a loyal global audience.

"The idea behind a store is how do we make the clothes sing?"

Cate Blanchett wore Studio Nicholson in Tar. Cillian Murphy frequently wears clothing from the collection whilst both Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore wore pieces from the brand in Pedro Almodovar’s 2024 film The Room Next Door. 

The first Studio Nicholson collection was inspired by her own clothes - shirts, jeans, men’s tailored jackets - with the menswear launching in 2017. Last year, she launched a range of luxury bags with her trademark fuss free but deeply considered approach.  

So come with us now as we put 15 questions for 15 years to Nick Wakeman. 

"There’s quite a tough attitude to our womenswear at times, but it’s spliced with femininity. That is the sexiest way you can be as a woman."

Pictured: Architect Tadao Ando and his team from 1989, image from Nick Wakeman's womenswear moodboard, portrait by Seiichi Furuya, guests at Tokyo store opening.