Rose-Colored Glasses

Mannequins outside of retail stores are generally a no-go in Rosemary Beach. It’s a good thing Nicole Paloma’s studio-shop is just outside city limits with an Inlet Beach address, because her mannequins are an attraction in themselves: sand-white, taupe, and rock star black snapping in the wind. It’s enough to nearly cause a fender bender. 

While the sense of sight is piqued outside, the interior of Paloma’s studio (which is warm and full, tightened by inspirational messages and a mural on the white walls) also activates the sense of touch. Paloma’s signature neutral palette brings us down to earth with our hands out to test raw seams, chiffon, slick jersey, and cozy ribbed pieces. Not to mention how the clothes feel on the body: In just a few accommodating sizes, Paloma builds clothes that are comfortable, adjustable, and embellish the female body as opposed to obscuring it. 

Today is the model fitting for Paloma’s newest collection, which will show at the SOWAL house the following evening, April 9. It’s the label’s first show in six years. Our publisher, McKenzie Burleigh, is trying on her potential looks. Paloma brings us to the rack that will hit the runway tomorrow, and to our delight, we’re seeing pink. 

Hot pink, dusty rose, a deep magenta whorled into a rosette-patterned maxi skirt, riot grrrl pink … it’s the pink persona of 1980’s glam, especially when the infinite maxi skirts and oversize trousers are paired with long, black fingerless gloves. The pieces are highly structural, too—“sculpture mixed with origami,” Paloma says. She notes that she’s a visual person, working in painterly chaos within her palette. Controlled burns come up as a metaphor. 

Photo by Tristan Lindsey

The garments on the rack haven’t been assigned to models yet. Paloma wants to see how they fit not just size-wise but how they illuminate the model’s personality and features. Each time Burleigh comes out of the dressing room, it’s a success—augmented by Paloma adjusting and accessorizing—but the final looks are narrowed down to two. Up first is a black wrap maxi criss-crossed with white splatters paired with a logo tank (“Starve your distractions; feed your focus,” it implores), and Burleigh’s second look will be a pair of grunge-vibe black-and-white trousers and a sleek white jersey top with a high jewel neckline. 

The cohesion of the collection reflects an active mind chasing a singular idea. “Creativity and energy are in a cloud,” Paloma explains to us. You have to enter that cloud—that haze of flow state and being permeable to the world’s influence—to produce great work. 

Fast forward: It’s the night of the show at the SOWAL house. The mood is effervescent, sweet as sparkling rosé. “No one ever became poor from giving,” each guest’s swag bag says. These guests make new friends, snack, sip, and bid on silent auction items benefiting the SOWAL Foundation to the tune of DJ-curated pop. It’s a fittingly joyful frame for the joyful show to come. 

Photo by Tristan Lindsey

Glitz, mesh, tulle, and huge smiles follow the models down the runway. “Count Your Blessings,” one skirt says, flanked with endless black tally marks on the white fabric. It’s a blend of hard contrast, easygoing tailoring, and a soft message to land on. Models come out in grommets and mesh, flowers and metal, black and white, and that pink, which is the pink of parties, summer raspberries, and childhood. 

The showstopper is a long-trained skirt spray-painted by Paloma in her own backyard. The message: “If not now, when?”

Words and fabric. Plaid and flowers, contrasting colors. It’s a study in opposites attracting: maximalist pieces paired with minimalist, the joy of being a person with contradictions. In her studio yesterday, Paloma explained that an early concept for the show was “Woven”—many threads coming together for the whole.

After the show, Paloma announces that today is the birthday of her late mother, an accomplished photographer and creative. It’s a bittersweet moment and a celebration of how love and inspiration are passed on and on and on. It’s now our task to pay this, the bounty of Paloma’s joyful, textured, colorful present, forward into the future.