When I first planned a day with Misha Nonoo, I knew it would be one for the books, or shall I say, the blog. Firstly, there’s her glam, international background: Misha is a Bahrain-born and London-raised fashion designer living in New York City. She brings her cultured upbringing to her designs and everyday life—when I asked her if she drank coffee, her response was: “Tea only, I’m British.
Come on!” Then there’s her aspirational lifestyle, which includes clean eating, great exercise and even better style. Suffice it to say, I jumped at the chance to ask Misha for a few notes on her beauty essentials, personal style and recipe for her morning juice mix. Read on to get all the details!Must-Have Beauty Products
“For me it’s really all about the skin, so I use a concealer, and then I use either a NARS or Bobbi Brown eye shadow and bronzer. And mascara—mascara is a huge thing for me; I can’t leave the house without mascara.”
Handbag Essentials
“That idea of desk-to-dinner really applies to my collection and to the way I live my life because I never have time to go home and change. I get to the office early because I find that that the magic really happens in the early morning and the evening when I can actually think and focus on design—otherwise, I get distracted by the other day-to-day activities and meetings. I have everyone in house—I have production, PR, sales, finance—so everybody is constantly like ‘Oh we need to talk about this, we need to talk about that.’ So it’s only really early morning and late evening when people have left that I really get to focus on design. So in my bag, there’s always a pair of heels that I bring along to wear in the evening.”
The Team Meeting
“Team meetings are always on the fly. We have team meetings all the time. A big meeting can be organized in 5 minutes because of how small our office is; it can be as simple as, ‘Guys, we need to sit down and we’ve got to talk about this.’ Or, I could really have a team meeting from across the room. There isn’t that formality that exists in large companies where there are meetings and agendas and all that stuff, it’s much more on the fly. We try to be as organized as possible and put together agendas for meetings, but it doesn’t always go that way.”
Walking Through the Garment District
“I would say that I have a sense of femininity and romance about the way I dress but that there’s also something quite smart about it, I like to look composed and put together every day. I’ve always lived by that line ‘Don’t dress for the job that you have, dress for the job that you want.’ You never know who you’re going to meet! And it doesn’t just apply to work, it could be a man that you’re going to meet, or anything—like who knows where your day is going to take you!? And when you have that mindset and that sense of optimism, then good things come your way. I like to look smart, put together, and professional.”
Misha’s morning juice ingredients
“I go to an organic farmers’ market every Saturday and buy lots of fruits and vegetables for the week. This week, I got kale, blueberries, figs and watermelon. So I’ve been doing that concoction, but it changes all the time—it really is whatever’s available. I just like it to be as fresh as possible.”
In Misha’s free time, she loves to cook. “I cook a lot of different things. Recently, I’ve been doing this quinoa, salmon, and kale recipe with shallots and I make it very spicy—I love spicy food—I have it with a glass of dry Riesling.” Before going to sleep, around 11:30/12pm, Misha watches Game Of Thrones. But before that, the designer’s getting-ready-for-bed routine is simple: “I wash my face and take my makeup off, and then I just slap on some cream and that’s it—by the end of the night, I’m like ‘I’m done’.
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