Nikki’s Guide to Miami

In the winter months, Nikki splits her time between Miami and NYC. Miami is a change of pace for Nikki, a New Yorker born and raised. It has an entirely different vibe regarding fashion and culture. So, she has found her favorite spots and ways to stay inspired. If you find yourself in Miami this winter–and we hope you do for the sake of your fingertips–you’ll want to check out these places. Pack a bag; we’re heading to Miami ☀️

The first order of business is where to eat. Getting dressed and heading out for a good meal is a regular activity. Just deciding where to eat is an activity in itself.

Nikki Kule guide to Miami dinner looks — Look 1: **Auralee** jacket (another option here), **Toteme** pants, **Stella McCartney** shirt, **Isabel Marant** shoes
Look 2: **Maria McManus** pants and shirt, **KULE** Blythe sweater around shoulders, **Isabel Marant** shoes, **YSL** bag
Look 3: **KULE** Ribbed Lenny Tank, **Miu Miu** cardigan (another option here and here), **Michael Kors** pants (another option here), **The Row** bag, **Le Monde Beryl** shoes

One of Nikki’s favorite places is La Natural, which she says has the best vibe and food (especially the sourdough pizza and Japanese sweet potatoes). The owner, Javier Ramirez, is also incredibly welcoming and Nikki loved listening to his take on Miami food, and the chef, Diego Moya, just so happens to be from New York City. Fingers crossed for more locations 🤞.

Next, The Surf Club a Thomas Keller restaurant at The Four Seasons, a fun place with the best bar in Miami and the most elegant dining room experience. It’s also great for people watching. Any number of Nikki’s mirror selfies will be pre-Surf Club while waiting for the rest of her party to be ready (Ken) 😉. It has fantastic food and cocktails. She recommends the Surf Side Fizz.

Another Miami gem is Boia De, a small strip mall restaurant with unique modern Italian-influenced dishes. She particularly loved the pasta (before she became pretty much GF). This place is hard to get a table at, but it hits the top of the list if you can. Try their sister restaurant, Walrus Rodeo, in the same strip mall.

Other great places to visit are Macchialina (great authentic Italian in a cute little dimly lit space) and Mandolin (fresh Greek food in a beautiful outdoor garden), both super popular places where you may run into another New Yorker.

As for what to do in Miami, Nikki’s love of keeping busy and her interests in art and design have led her to find some great things and places to visit. Getting dressed for your day activities is also half the fun 🤪. She is not your typical Miami dresser — no cutouts here!

Nikki Kule outfits for day in Miami — Look 1: **KULE** Hutton shirt and silk pants, Loewe necklace, **Tretorn** shoes, **Loewe** bag
Look 2: **KULE** featherweight cotton Blanca shirt (coming soon!), **B Sides** jeans, **Le Monde Beryl** shoes, **The Row** bag
Look 3: **KULE** cashmere Betty sweater, **Celine** pants, **Bottega Veneta** belt (mens!), **The Row** shoes

Riding a Citi Bike from Surf Side to South Beach and back is a great way to see Miami and work off that pasta 🍝 also, so you can spend the rest of your day at the beach in a swimsuit.

Look 1: **KULE** button-down shirt and silk pants, **Tretorn** shoes
Look 2: **Left on Friday** swimsuit, **Lemaire** shirt dress (another option here), **Sensi Studio** bag, **Saint Laurent** shoes

She also recommends visiting the Nina Johnson Gallery. She says it has the best exhibits of emerging and established artists. A couple of months ago, she saw a show of Katie Stout’s work, which are whimsical but intricate sculptures with baroque elements. Another great gallery to visit is Spinello Projects, a contemporary art gallery owned by Anthony Spinello, who is lovely himself.

The Rubell Museum also shows great curations of art. The private museum was founded in 2019 during Art Basel by longtime collectors and Miami residents Don and Mera Rubell. It’s a modern, airy space with many galleries, so you’ll want to spend an entire day here.

It’s hard to compete with New York, but Nikki has found a few gems for shopping in Miami.

Nikki recently visited the new Éliou store in Miami Beach, where she met founders Duda Teixeira & Cristina Mantilla. They have great style, and their brand lives up to that with great jewelry and accessories, all handmade on the premises (right behind the store). All the clothes are made in Brazil from dead stock fabrics and hand-crocheted by family members! Nikki fell in love with these silver rings, stacked.

Nikki also has an affinity for interior design and recommends visiting Casa de Barcelona, a store with curated vintage furniture in customized designer fabrics and art and sculptures. Nikki says the mid-century pieces are perfect for quintessential Miami design.

And we would be remiss to not mention the Webster store in South Beach. This original store location opened in 2009 in a huge historic hotel designed by Henry Hohauser. This three-story multi-brand luxury store in Miami Beach’s Art Deco district is a good visit whether you’re going to buy or just try on. You’ll always find brands there that you can’t find anywhere else.

Nikki’s wearing Éliou stacked silver Amaya rings
Images via Eliou and Casa de Barcelona Instagram

And now… back to New York.

Crafting a Signature Style with Nikki Kule

This Fall, In Kind Magazine interviewed Nikki about her personal style for its Issue No. 7. If you don’t know of In Kind Magazine, then you must subscribe. It’s a biannual print magazine created and edited by Leah Melby Clinton and Hannah Weil McKinley that focuses on career, motherhood, and style. Nikki’s Instagram selfies caught the eye of Leah and Hannah, who then reached out to include her in the magazine. In Nikki’s feature, she discusses the art of dressing for herself and finding inspiration. We’re including a sneak peek of In Kind this week to dive deeper into Nikki’s outfit formulas for each season.

For fall/winter in New York, where Nikki was born and raised, she says she’s a coat and pants girl. “Pants are what I love to start with and build my look from there.” Nikki says her go-to pieces are “a button-down shirt from KULE, trousers, and a great coat or jacket.”

**KULE** Nelson Blazer and Hutton Shirt, **Michael Kors Collection** coat, **Auralee** Trousers, **Loewe** Loafers

In the spring, Nikki likes to layer and still keeps a favorite jacket like the KULE Rox Trench with which she wears a KULE tee (the Wynn Baby Tee is her current favorite), great pants, and sandals.

**KULE** Rox Trench, Wynn Baby Tee and City Pants (new colors coming this Spring!), **Khaite** Denim Vest, **The Row** Sandals, **Miu Miu** sunglasses

When Nikki’s in Miami, she uses the same process of getting dressed, but adds some more playful elements.

**KULE** Quinn Shirt, Silk Elba Pareo and Striped Tote, **High Sport** Pants, **Eres** Swimsuit, **Saint Laurent** Sandals, Khaite x Oliver Peoples Sunglasses

Interview as told to by Hannah Weil McKinley of In Kind. For more of the interview, including some of Nikki’s go-to brands to mix with KULE, packing and style tips for travel, and her approach to design these days, you can order a copy of In Kind issue No.7.

Hello, Atlanta 👋🍑

We are thrilled to share that last week, we became an official Atlanta resident with a brand new store in Buckhead Village. This is our first store in the South and third current store (our others are both in New York: at Rockefeller Center and Cobble Hill, Brooklyn). As a New York brand, we are excited to branch out and have this new space, our largest one yet. You have to see the magic of the space, decked out in–what else–stripes! There will never be a substitute for in-person shopping, and our stores fill the experience with warmth and smiles 🙂

The most remarkable feature of the store — one you cannot miss — is the stripes across the ceiling and down the wall of the space. Nikki wanted you to feel encapsulated in stripes, a feature inspired by The Beverly Hills Hotel during a trip to LA this past summer.

Beverly Hills Hotel Inspo — Nikki at The Beverly Hills Hotel this past summer

Nikki Kule at KULE Atlanta store — Makes you want to paint stripes on your ceiling, huh?

The store is a labor of love starting with Nikki’s design conception of the space; the largest KULE storefront she’s taken on yet. With the help of Debora Cicchini and her sketches, they worked on the space from New York and when they arrived in Atlanta is somehow all came together 🤪

To customize the space, Tracy Morgan made all of the striped paintings and colorful sculptures, we adorned the walls in many of our favorite KULE editorial images shot by Mei Tao, and Debora Cicchini made that ginormous KULE tee in the window by hand (while en route to Atlanta)!

KULE Atlanta store interior shelf — The store features more than a dozen striped paintings by artist Tracy Morgan

KULE Atlanta store big tee shirt in window — Debora Cicchini hand-made this ginormous KULE tee for our window

The store has so many personal elements to Nikki such as the knickknacks and art that are items she has collected from each city we have previously had a pop-up (the Mr. Santa Barbara painting from our Montecito pop-up now resides in Atlanta). Nikki also loves to find local store owners and artists. Also included is another new painting from her favorite Buckhead discovery and neighbor in the village, Bella Cucina, and its amazing owner, Alisa Barry (she provided the greenery for the store as well).

Special thanks to the KULE team lead by President Jim Kuerschner and Head of Retail Kara Love for your hard work in making this space come to life 💪

If you couldn’t make it, we’d love to have you come check out the store at 247 Buckhead Avenue Atlanta, GA 30305. It’s just peachy 🍑.

Where should we go next? 🤔

A Night with Jenna Lyons at KULE Rockefeller Center

Last week, KULE friend Jenna Lyons hosted a night of shopping, sipping, and lots of laughing at our Rockefeller Center store. Guests included Jenna’s fellow Real Housewives of New York City cast members Brynn Whitfield, Jessel Taank, and Ubah Hassan. They shopped the latest collection of KULE just in time for fall.

Nikki first met Jenna through mutual acquaintances (hi Sarah Clary! 👋) and being in the same business. Jenna recommended KULE as one of the shops at Rockefeller Center in 2021 when she worked with them to reimagine the retail mix.

Jenna wears the Lucca sweater styled around her waist

Also in attendance that evening were designers Carly Cushnie, Rosie Assoulin, Roxanne Assoulin, and Jac Cameron; fashion director and street style influencer Chloe King; photographer Mei Tao; stylist Tracy Taylor; and model/jewelry designer Renata Zandonadi Quagliaenata.

Did we mention The Housewives were there?

Nobody wears a stripe like Jenna! Thanks for hosting. Come back with your friends anytime 🙂

An Early Summer Getaway

Nikki recently traveled on a two-part vacation to the South of France and Ischia, Italy, to start the summer season. We always look to Nikki for packing tips because she often visits more than one place when she travels and needs to be smart about how she packs. She also has excellent advice on where to eat, shop, and stay. Read below for a peek into Nikki’s early summer getaway and her travel tips.

Packing for a vacation any longer than five days is difficult because everything must be multifunctional. Nikki says she wound up wearing almost everything she brought on her recent trip, a success that comes from a sort of formula, which she shared with YOLO Journal earlier this year. “When it’s a beach vacation, I pack fun patterns, prints (stripes), and some basics.” She also mentions packing fewer shoes/ones that only take up a little space and keeping enough room for workout wear, as she likes to run. Wearing an outfit for the plane that you can incorporate into your vacation wardrobe is an important part of packing.

Nikki Kule travel look — Nikki says the Finn sweater was perfect for travel because it’s versatile and soft, and great to layer with. She wore it on the plane with her High Sport pants, which are her go-to for travel because they are stretchy and super comfortable. Here she re-wears the sweater with the Suki pants, Hereu sandals, and a pouch from The Row

The Finn Sweater

The Suki Pant

Hereu Sandals

The Row Bag

High Sport Pants

Nikki and her husband started the trip in the South of France, with three nights in Saint Tropez, where Nikki hadn’t been in over 20 years.

Nikki Kule in Lourmarin — Nikki matching with a Ugo Rondinone sculpture at Le Pre de la Mer, Saint Tropez. Wearing K. Jacques sandals, a brand that happens to be based in Saint Tropez!

Nikki Kule at La Colombe d'Or at Saint-Paul de Vence — Near Saint Tropez is Saint-Paul de Vence. Nikki went to dinner **La Colombe d’Or** and is here on the property with an Alexander Calder mobile from the 1930s. Highly recommend for the sights and food.

*Wearing the Suki pant*

A packing tip from Nikki is to have versatile small bags. Pouches with long straps in neutral colors are best for traveling around because they easily transition from day to night.

Loewe Bag

The Row Bag

Inès Bressand Bag

Chanel Micro Bag

Nikki Kule at Le Club 55 — One of Nikki’s favorite places to eat was Le Club 55 in Saint Tropez.

Port Bleu Saint Tropez — Nikki loved the Port Bleu shop in Saint Tropez, which hosts three independent brands in one boutique.

Port Bleu Saint Tropez matisse pants — Nikki is here wearing a pair of Matisse-inspired Saint-Martin sur Mer pants. The brand has female designers hand-paint motifs on vintage work jackets and trousers.

They then went to Villa La Coste, a historic town of Aix-en-Provence, where they stayed for two nights. The hotel has 500 acres of vineyards mixed with art by great modern artists, including Louis Bourgeois and Richard Serra.

Nikki next to a monumental stack sculpture by Annie Morris on the grounds of the Villa La Coste.

*Wearing the Baja featherweight tee and Suki pants*

Don’t you wish there were more things as quaint as this? A perfect copper pot-embossed stationary at Francis Mallmann, an Argentinian Restaurant at Villa La Coste

Nikki at Villa La Coste — Nikki and the view at Villa La Coste wearing her current favorite Wynn baby tee, and Finn sweater

Cezanne Studio — They drove into town and visited the Atelier de Cézanne, located in the hills of Aix-en-Provence. This is where Cézanne worked from 1902 to his death in 1906.

They then drove to Lourmarin and Saint-Paul de Vence, which, Nikki says, are postcard-perfect and exactly how one would imagine the South of France to look.

They stayed at Le Moulin de Lourmarin for a night. The raffia hats are very KULE Summer 2023

Nikki drinking win at Lourmarin — Nikki et Le vin de Lourmarin

The hillside of Saint-Paul de Vence which is picture-perfect

Saint Paul de Vence flowers — Why are colors so much more vivid on vacation?

Colombe d'ore at Saint Paul de Vence — The homey menu at La Colombe d’Or Hotel and Restaurant, where Nikki stayed and highly recommended.

As for part two of the trip, they headed to the Italian island of Ischia for four days, where there was no shortage of beautiful architecture, bright blue waters, quaint little sea towns, and some great food and vacation cocktails to round out the trip.

view from Mezzattore hotel — The view from the Mezzatore Hotel, in Ischia, with only striped umbrellas separating you from the sea ⛱️

Mezzattore Hotel in Ischia — The Mezzatorre Hotel is a peachy castle up on a hill looking over, what feels like, infinite waters. Everyone sits outside by those umbrellas for cocktails in the evening.

Mezzattore Hotel in Ischia cocktail — View from the other side. La dolce vita!

Nikki Kule wearing striped KULE silks — Nikki says the striped silks were a staple day-to-day. She wore the Silk Ponza shirt and Silk Elba Pareo multiple times as beachwear and daywear. The new navy/cream color way is her personal favorite.

The Silk Ponza

The Silk Elba Pareo

The Silk Lido

The Silk Capri

Cavascura Ischia — The first day, they drove from the Mezzatore across the island to Cavascura, which is so picturesque it’s no surprise they filmed *The Talented Mr. Ripley* there.

There, they visted Terme di Cavascura, an area hollowed into the rock of a deep valley, to visit the thermal and mud baths it’s known for 🧖‍♀️.

They then met up with friends and visited the surrounding Italian Riviera by boat stopping at Nerano and Positano.

They met up with friends and ventured out exploring by sea, which is the best way to see the vertical hillside building of Ischia.

Nikki on boat in Italy Riviera — Traveling by boat in the Italian Riviera

*Khaite x Oliver Peoples sunglasses*

The boat trip lead them to Lo Scoglio in Nerano, which Nikki recommends for fresh, delicious food.

Nikki Kule at La Sirenuse — They also stopped at La Sirenuse in Positano for a drink. Nikki is wearing a Charvet striped shirt dress and yellow terry pouch she got at a gift shop in Ischia.

Le Sirenuse decor — La Siranuse interior was sho charming with cheery color combinations and patterns.

Michael Kors, Lance LePere, and Nikki on the mountainside, on the boat ride back.

Nikki Kule in blue striped dress in Ischia — The perfect end to an early summer vacation 🙂

Lovers Unite!

KULE is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community, and we are especially proud of our ongoing partnership with Ali Forney Center, whose mission is to protect LGBTQ+ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. Last month we were a sponsor of their annual gala, and this past week hosted a Pride Event at our Brooklyn store, donating 20% of all sales from that evening to AFC. Both events remind us of the importance of Ali Forney Center’s work and how much we love our community, whose dedication and support make a difference. Read below for some highlights from both events in support of Ali Forney Center.

KULE is proud to be a sponsor of Ali Forney Center’s A Place At the Table annual gala

Early last month, Ali Forney Center hosted nearly 1,000 people at Cipriani Wall Street to celebrate its annual A Place At The Table Gala. It was the Center’s most successful event to date, with a fundraising total of $1.8 million. We are proud to have been a sponsor of the event and grateful to our KULE friends for coming to support with us.

Ali Forney Center Gala Nikki Kule and Jim Kuerschner — Jim Kuerschner and Nikki Kule

Ali Forney Center Gala Chloe King — Chloe King

Ali Forney Center Gala Brian Solis and Lauren Wilson — Brian Solis and Lauren Wilson

Attendees wore bold fashion to the gala, with no shortage of sequins, crystals, and color. We like to think the KULE table showed up, too 🙂.

KULE Table at Ali Forney Gala — The KULE table showed up to support and certainly came dressed for the evening. Nikki Kule, Jim Kuerschner, and Elizabeth Tamkin from the KULE team were joined by Jonathan Kratz, Chloe King, Sam Todd, Brian Solis, Lauren Wilson, Stefan Beckman, and Kris Togias. We thank each and every one of them for coming to support.

Just last week, we also hosted our Pride Event at KULE Brooklyn, donating 20% of all sales from that evening to Ali Forney Center.

The KULE team wearing the Pride collection, rainbows, and smiles

We will also continue to donate $20 from each tee and $10 from each hat sold online and in-store from the new Pride collection, a collaboration with illustrator Grace Miceli.

The Modern Pride

The Pride Kap

The Archie Pride

KULE Pride Collection 2023 party Kara Elizabeth Morgan — Kara Love, Elizabeth Castillo, Morgan Layne

KULE Pride Collection 2023 party Elizabeth and Brian and NIkki — Elizabeth Tamkin, Brian Solis, Nikki Kule

You will always meet great people at a KULE party! Our community is the best, and it knows how to have a good time. With some fuel (sips and sweets) and lots of KULE (it’s a ryhme!), we were ready to party for Pride.