Designer Download: Lars Nilsson

By Amy Flurry
May 6, 2010

Two years ago, the influential Swedish designer Lars Nilsson stepped into fashion’s periphery after a brisk dismissal from his post as Creative Director at Gianfranco Ferré. Detractors and adherents were left to speculate the future of Nilsson, who had scaled fashion’s highest peaks at the illustrious Parisian couture houses of Chanel, Christian Lacroix and Christian Dior and flirted with the ephemeral pleasures of ready-to-wear (Nina Ricci and Bill Blass.)

The Paris-based Nilsson used the time just after his departure at Italian label Ferré to consider his options in a climate that was quickly downsizing luxury. He also spent time stateside and took a number of trips on Amtrak’s Silver Meteor from New York to Savannah, where he mentored a group of students at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He used the long stretches to sketch, all the while developing a strategy for his comeback. “I stopped in Richmond, Virginia at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and got to see an extensive collection of couture, including some Fortuny gowns with stunning pleats,” he says of his Southern cultural expeditions. At the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Nilsson documented buttonholes and other details of the dress on a marble sculpture by 19th century American artist Joseph Mozier.

And then earlier this year, Nilsson, 43, unceremoniously stepped out of the shadows with a new menswear collection: his own. The line, Mr. Nils, is being produced by the Italian manufacturer Mabro and includes tailored suits, casual sportswear, shoes and accessories and has been praised for Nilsson’s signature detail work, its fabric quality and price— suits range from $900 to $1500, about half that of most of his designer counterparts. The 150-piece collection, which has been met with strong reviews and perhaps more telling, strong orders, will be in stores in July. “It makes sense in this climate to go back to smaller houses and into that territory of maintaining exclusivity and quality,” he says. “I hope for sustainability of well-made things.”

Nilsson, a skilled eBay shopper, shared his favorite finds with us.

Roll over items for details

Horst P. Horst Signed Photo of Irving Penn

“A picture that I would love to get... one day.”

(buy it now price, $7,500)

Clockwise from top left:

Nobless Oblige Book: “I’ve always loved books from the 1920s and 30s and found these on eBay.”

Stacked Books: “Two favorite purchases: a catalogue from an Irving Penn expo in Stockholm and one on the Ballet Russe that I looked to for inspiration for a Nina Ricci collection.”

Spode Teacup: “I have this Spode set, with cups sized somewhere between a tea and cafe and, of course, one broke at a wild tea party. As I can’t find them in Paris…..I turned to eBay!”

Cy Twombly Poster: “This is a lovely poster of Cy Twombly that I found on eBay. It’s from an expo in Naples and is signed and now hangs in my Paris apartment! He is one of my favorite artists and I’ve long been inspired also by how he dresses.”

**Photo of Nilsson by Katarina Jebb. Images of Mr. Nils provided by Mr. Nils.**

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