Bask in NiiHai’s ‘new take on femininity’ as we talk depop, new-age grunge and Spanish sunsets
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
As the brand launches its new range, we delve deeper into NiiHai’s ‘new take on femininity’ and the designers duty to constantly evolve in the ever-changing world of fashion.
Courtesy of @rosalindis
NAME ROSA LINDIS of NIIHAI
AGE 24
LOCATION London, England
STAR SIGN Virgo
Morgan Bevan: Hypothetical - it’s the end of lockdown, the sun has set and the clubs are firing up... What are the must have essentials in your bag?
Rosa Lindis: My passport because I’m not going to any clubs - I’m going straight on a plane to Mallorca! When I was a baby my family moved there. I spent my whole life there and then I came back to England for university. But yeah, clubbing is not for me. Yesterday I went ahead and booked 12 flights in total for me and my boyfriend. True priorities.
MB: If the world was ending tomorrow, what would your departing outfit be?
RL: Okay, I’m going to say a really boring answer...I feel like if the world was ending tomorrow, the last thing on my mind would be my outfit! Funny thing is someone asked me the other day, since creating NiiHai, has it affected my personal style and I literally, like, put no effort into my personal wardrobe at all. All my energy goes into NiiHai. I just wear tracksuits everyday.
MB: If it’s a tracksuit, then what brand tracksuit?
RL: I mean, of course a NiiHai tracksuit.
MB: Which two designers do you think would be the perfect collaborators for NiiHai?
RL: I’d probably choose designers for brands who do things that aren't specifically clothing based... So maybe NIKE - I’d love to do a shoe collab - I think that would be really cool! And then, in terms of brands that I think are a bit of me, erm, at the moment I really love GCDS. They do cool like fun stuff. Do you know them? Recently they made these pickled boots and earrings. So yeah, I feel like a brand like that would be really cool to collaborate with.
MB: How has the pandemic evolved or hindered your brand? What are the changes you’ve had to make?
RL: It’s definitely been super beneficial; both for myself and in terms of the brand. I was working as a waitress before NiiHai. I’d been on furlough for like a year and a half which meant I had money coming in and I could just spend my time on NiiHai. The past year has been the BIGGEST period of growth since NiiHai started. Then lockdown ended. Now with social stuff I’m really struggling to find the balance. Even going for drinks is an internal struggle! But I still do...oops. Sometimes I think about how I had such a good routine in lockdown like SUCH a GOOD routine. I would actually wake up at like 6:20am everyday; I would meditate; I would drink matcha and have my vitamins! Now I’m like AHHHH, where do I start?
MB: What are the core beliefs that define NiiHai?
RL: I feel NiiHai has a strong sense of community. We started off with my friends helping me with any and everything so we all kind of grew together. Everyone does their own thing from modelling to photography and design. So even customers get involved with my friends - community is at the heart of the brand and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of my friends.
MB: London or Mallorca? Networking or Relaxing?
RL: Networking in London, definitely! That’s the only reason I live in London otherwise there’d be no way I’d live here. It’s just a huge contrast because I used to live on a beautiful little island. The other day I FaceTimed my mum and she was on the beach and I was in the office... I was literally like, “What am I doing here?”
MB: What’s your life story in three words?
RL: I asked my Mum about this... She said yesterday that when me and my brother were younger, every year for our birthdays she would buy the #1 single and my mum said that when I was born it was ‘Ready or Not’ - I think that describes me very well.
MB: How important is sustainability to you? How can we do better?
RL: Sustainability is a huge factor in my worldview. Starting off, with brands like mine, it can be very difficult to do things sustainably because I’m not making things myself. I’m not like the smaller brands who are more DIY focussed. When I was initially designing I couldn’t afford to meet the minimum orders and quantities that some sustainable factories were demanding. We had to find other ways in which we could be more ethical, so from the offset all of our delivery materials have been plastic free. Fast forward to December, NiiHai did a HUGE month focussing on sustainability where we did a collaboration with a Lab in London who produce photosynthetic coating fabrics - it’s still in the early stages but that kinda thing I find really cool. I love finding innovative ways of being sustainable because sustainability has become such a buzzword, when really it’s about learning and as technology evolves understanding that you as a creator have a duty to continue to evolve with that shift. I just want to keep educating myself.
MB: Who are your top three celebrities that you’d like to see in NiiHai?
RL: My number one was always DUA LIPA! She owns one of our vests but I’d love to see her in full NiiHai. And her stylist, LORENZO POSOCCO is so cool! Anything they do together is just... yeah I loooove. Of course BELLA HADID would be amazing, like come on, she’s an icon. And Madonna’s daughter, you know her? LOLA LEON? Literally since I’ve been about 13 I’ve been obsessed with her. She’s just so low key and mysterious... It would be a challenge ;)
MB: Where did the name NiiHai originate? What informed this?
RL: It came from when I was maybe 18. Me and my friends started a photography page cuz we were always doing shoots and stuff. At the time we were all wearing knee-high boots and literally that’s it...it just stuck. A lot of people have asked whether it comes from Mandarin, which does sound very familiar, but its origins lie firmly in 18-year-old me’s knee- high boots.
MB: Some describe your brand’s style as new-age grunge; How would you describe it?
RL: I think that’s always a really hard question. Like asking a musician “Oh, what genre of music do you do” but when I was first asked to describe the brand one of the things that resonated with me was “a new take on femininity” because NiiHai does have that essence of sensuality. I also love the idea of having multifunctional pieces. So trousers that detach or we have a lot of pieces coming for winter that have two uses. Essentially it’s just whatever I want to do. Whatever is intrinsically me.
MB: Which cartoon baddie (Bad-Bitch) are you, and why? Go wild, I’d even accept Dora...
RL: I was gonna say Homer Simpson idk... I’m not too much of a cartoon person. I used to love the tough tomboy girl from ‘Recess’... Ashley Spinelli! I have a picture of me aged seven dressed up as her.
MB: Have sites like Depop heightened or hindered independent creatives in the fashion world?
RL: I feel like it’s a double edged sword. On the one hand it has been amazing. I actually wish I’d have thought of Depop as a business idea myself! Especially in lockdown, it’s given people a space to be creative and be entrepreneurial. However right now, I do also feel it is super oversaturated by what we’ll call ‘inspired’ creatives. There’s a lot of the same on there. It also takes away the authenticity from brands who curated these ideas. Idk, it’s difficult. It can also give people a false sense of reality about how a business works. You know, Depop is quite easy to set up. In all honesty, I love Depop. I'm really happy a platform like that exists and that everyone is using it, but I rarely shop on Depop for clothes because it’s all so expensive. I’m on Ebay and Vinted. But it’s definitely there for people who can’t be arsed to trek through pages upon pages of clothes on eBay.
MB: “OMG such girl bo$$ energy”: What trainer are you stomping out the patriarchy with?
RL: You really didn’t want to say that question out loud did you? Hahaha. You know the brand EYTYS? I have a lot of these shoes. I really like them. I also have a few Nike Shox. Big fan. Or maybe I’d choose some CROCS - so typical at the moment - or a pair of comfy UGGS. I bought a pair of Crocs last year and my friend felt violated by them. Now she loves her Crocs. That’s growth.
