NOMIA SPRING/SUMMER 2015 DESIGNER & AGENTS NEW YORK

“I’ve kind of developed this theory that all designers are obsessed with their late-teenage years. You’re always emotionally connected to that time when you’re really developing your identity and everything feels so real,” said Yara Flinn at a preview of her new Nomia collection. For Flinn, that formative era was the late ’90s. After cycling through something of a sporty, hip-hop phase, followed by a fixation with X-Girl-inspired grunge, this season found the designer channeling the decade’s raver culture—in her own restrained way, of course. The modern club-kid vibe came through with such pieces as overall maxi dresses, mandarin-collar tunics, and baggy pink painter’s pants. What set Flinn’s lineup apart were unexpected details, such as the utilitarian carabiner clips found on tailored linen vests and the random slash on one side of a crinkled T-shirt dress. “I think it’s so sexy to show a tiny, weird piece of thigh for no reason,” she explained. To accompany the collection, Flinn created a cool narrative film (involving a fictional party planner and frosted lipstick), appropriately shot at Max Fish, the recently reopened dive bar that is nothing short of a Lower East Side institution. “I’ve been going there for what seems like a million years, so the setting felt authentic and awesome,” Flinn said. One thing’s for sure: It doesn’t get more ’90s redux than Max Fish.