New Yorker Pinay At Heart Nika Diwa Does Rainy Day Looks Her Way In The Urban Tropics
Style empowerment advocate Nika Diwa emerged in recent years from a superbly dynamic fashion career abroad. Armed with a LIM college degree in Fashion Merchandising, she gradually worked her way up the corporate ladder, finding success in style as a relentless buyer for Barney’s NYC. Initially, Nika began with menswear for the brand Ermenegildo Zegna. “…first it was Zegna then Barney’s. After that I went on to work for a really successful startup. It’s a luxury online consignment website called The RealReal. It’s authenticated luxury consignment and I started the merchandising department there. It’s based on two coasts; New York City and San Francisco. That’s what I did, I was in corporate fashion. Really, really loved it and I still look upon it really fondly. It was so much fun just having a front-row seat to a lot of the happenings and trends in the fashion industry in New York—one of the fashion capitals of the world.”
“[My fashion sense] is really fun and bold. I love to celebrate my style and it’s unconventional in that it’s really, really out there. I wear things that kind of surprise people, and I like that—the shock factor, a lot of colors, things that don’t go together I like to pair together because I believe that fashion is art. It’s the kind of art you move with, it lives with you—it’s so incredible that fashion can do that.”
A New Yorker at heart, Nika is every bit the petite ball of sunshine you see in photos. Rainy days are here, but in seasons like this, Nika chooses to go against the grain she says. We’ve asked this fashion maven to get creative and self-style four rainy day looks for us—all attractively highlighting urban life in the tropics. Like a cherry on top of each look, Nika has effectively assigned four different bags from her upcoming premium collection “Láro” which launches in the United States this coming July 15.
1. Rainy Day Professional Power Dressing
“I tend to love neutrals when I work, specifically blacks, maybe sometimes whites.This is why I chose a pant that’s really stretchy and really chic, it has ruffles.”
“I try to choose pieces that have something interesting about it.My personal touches that I love [here] are the jewelry and the shoes—I add statement pieces—then of course the bag.”
“I love embellishment. So while this is really professional, sleek, and chic it still has a touch of “Nika” which is fun—fun style. Also, when it’s raining I avoid satin and silk shoes. I still wear heels. I don’t think that you should compromise on your style. I believe we have umbrellas for a reason, it’s fine. I just choose shoes that aren’t going to ruin irreparably in the rain.”
2. A Wet Walk In The Park
“When it’s raining you’ll see me mainly in knits because there’s something about the rain that just makes you want to be cozy. There’s a way to be cozy and still very fashion forward. We’ve achieved that in this look, it’s knit. It’s very trendy with the stripes—stripes are super ‘in’.”
“The element or surprise is that we mixing stripes with the other striped pattern on the raincoat. I think that’s another misconception in style—that everything has to be matchy matchy, you can’t mix different stripes, but you can.”
“I also wore some really comfortable, worn-in leather flats, which are really easy and walkable. Of course, I’m really big on accessories, so I love this green umbrella. It matches the little green details on this bag, so I love pulling out little details. The green is really perfect, it makes them pop.”
3. Cozy Day-Out Chic
“This is a look that I would totally wear from day to night.I really love it again because it’s a knit so it looks really elevated but is really comfortable. You can really move around in it. You can wear it all day. You can accessorize it with a funky bag and some color-blocked shoes.”
“I like to keep the jewelry subtle when you have a lot of colors going on, so I have these favorite earrings, they’re gold but really subtle.”
“Definitely [pair it] with a trenchcoat because it’s functional. It’s nice because especially indoors it can get really cold. Aside from it being rainy it’s nice to have a little jacket you can throw on.”
4. Stormchasing On The Road
“This look is so playful. I love this look, I love this dress because it has ruffles. I think it’s such a fun look because it goes against the dreariness of rain. It’s already interesting but I mixed it with a raincoat that already has lines.”
“I love to mix prints because it’s unexpected. That’s what separates the people who really know fashion and are fearless with fashion. Clear raincoats are super in and fun because then you can see your outfit inside.”
“Also, this has a hood so that’s functional. I chose a purse that helps pull out the colors of the dress then of course I chose some funky comfortable flats that are easy to walk in with pearls on them.”
Photography and makeup by Julia Arenas, special thanks to Berde Bowls (@berdebowls), Makati.
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