Nicole Miller Spring/Summer 2013

It’s no secret that designer Nicole Miller has been pushing to give her venerable label a more youthful appeal. Her company’s efforts were chronicled earlier this year in the Sundance Channel series All On The Line, a reality series that follows designers as they try to revive, or in Miller’s case, revamp their lines with the help of Elle Magazine‘s creative director Joe Zee. And Miller recently launched a new ready to wear line, Artelier, which has a more youthful point of view.

Miller’s spring/summer 2013 collection reflected the designer’s dip into the Fountain of Youth. For the most part, Miller hit all the right notes, finding just the right balance between youthful energy and Miller’s more traditional brand of funky chic. But there were moments when the results were contrived with the designer working too hard to make an impression. Nothing is worse, after all, than someone who tries too hard to be cool or hip.

The (very) brief show notes distributed before the collection showing alluded to the challenge. Miller called her “Batteries Not Included” collection a “juxtaposition of improbable things.” And in Miller’s fashion lexicon, that meant a rainbow-bright blending of contrasting influences—digital floral prints; techno with retro; hard and soft; masculine with feminine, streamlined with flounces.

An Omni Stripe print that resembled faded rock concert glow sticks on a black background gave a series of silk shirts and skinny pants a fun, Ultra-Brite feel. Bright was also the order of the day with Miller’s purple and hot pink Future Flora floral print, which was used particularly well in looks like a funky combo print bustier dress. Techno was represented by a series in a pixilated pattern, including a striking black and white jacquard peplum top and a jacquard minidress that had an almost 3-D effect. And flowing, sheer tunic shirts sometimes topped by biker jackets added to the decidedly downtown feel.

But Miller’s long-short theme became a bit overdone. Peplums, double peplums, pleated peplums, long skirts over shorts, short skirts over long skirts and pants. The procession of looks started to feel as if Miller was ticking off items on a fashion design to-do list.

Still, this fresher, funkier Nicole Miller is a good push in the right direction, showing that Miller has found a way to rejuvenate her style without losing her way.

—Karyn D. Collins