Meet Nikole Dalton | Fashion + Finance Entrepenuer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikole Dalton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikole, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

I was interested in building a business as a kid. Friends from my childhood still remind me of how I’d create different business endeavors to engage us all in, complete with team meetings, binders, notes, and assignments. I was voted Most Likely To Become A Millionaire in middle school, so it seems it’s always been in me. I guess I’m doing the same thing now, the stakes are just a lot higher.

wearNIKI has been my experiment in building the life of my dreams. Through my practice, I want to inspire others to do the same. The concept of wearNIKI is victory and that’s what we’re selling.  I hope that my customers get to absorb a sense of empowerment and affirmation when they wear our garments. The brand draws inspiration from the triumph and liberation that results from committing ourselves to integrity (wholeness). More than I like to think of myself as sending a “message” to my audience, I hope that I am demonstrating in some sense that you can achieve whatever you can conceive of. There’s magic and liberation in bringing what was hidden into the realm of what can be seen. And while “freedom ain’t free”, it’s well worth the investment.

What should our readers know about your business?

Like every other entrepreneur, I am my own super power. My unique journey and perspective are what separate me from the crowd. My journey in fashion and business in general has been unconventional. I’m not formally trained in fashion or finance (my two primary business focuses) and much of my skill set comes from a unique ability to focus and observe. Some things have taken me longer to learn because I like to investigate and discover things for myself.

Right now, I’m most excited about going back to Fashion Week in February 2025. I like to say that wearNIKI was initiated into the ranks of Fashion Week this past February, in Paris. Ultimately we were successful in attending and presenting at the event, but showing at our first major fashion week and internationally at that, was no easy feat. In spite of my most committed efforts to prepare for Fashion Week, planning and working proactively to anticipate every need we’d have for the show, it still turned out to be one of the greatest tests of my commitment to my dream and my brand that I’ve endured to date. I’m really proud of myself for the leadership and tenacity I demonstrated in the face of those challenges.  As a result of presenting at Paris Fashion Week, wearNIKI has been enjoying an increase in brand awareness in Europe, and profiles in some of the top high fashion magazines, including British Vogue.  We’re gaining some exciting momentum.

The experience of my first major Fashion Week gave me a chance to dig deep into my tool box as an entrepreneur and creative. I thought I was going to Paris to demonstrate my creativity through garment construction and design, but God/Universe had other plans. Surprisingly, the real test of Fashion Week was one of endurance, tenacity, and commitment, to myself and the team I’ve been building over the past 15+ years. My intention is to build a big business and I know that I need a strong foundation to do that. Challenges like Fashion Week are just par for the course. I got to where I am today by being willing to be bad first. I’m a mad scientist really. Always in my laboratory, experimenting, researching, taking notes, and recalibrating. Finding the order in chaos.

It is definitely not an easy life. It takes guts to be an entrepreneur, often dealing in the unknown, the responsibility and confrontation of it all. But I’m committed to fulfillment in my life, part of what that looks like for me, is bringing to life the visions I see in my dreams.  I’m  not interested in the regret of not getting on the proverbial court of my life.

I’ve learned so much being an entrepreneur, much of it about myself. I’m a student of the school of thought that says entrepreneurship is a spiritual journey. It’s been my experience that is 100% true. Entrepreneurship and the people that I’ve met along the way have taught me communication skills, how to share and collaborate better, how to be more authentic, and much more. The deeper I dig in I find myself becoming a better human.

I want to build an internationally competitive legacy fashion brand.  I figure that if I’m going to do the very hard work of building a business, I might as well build a big one. I believe that the voice and perspective of women is more important than ever, in our global society and economy.  Especially women who are building first generational wealth.  And, because representation matters and we have the great fortune of living in a time where representation and the ability to amplify voices has been democratized, I think it’s also important for those female voices to be those of Black women and other women of color.  I just want the girls to know that I’ve got the looks covered.  I love the idea of designing wardrobe for the way makers, goal getters, and dream alchemists of the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m from Oakland, which is in Northern Cali. I’ll run down my itinerary the last time I was in town:

Day 1:
3pm: arrive LAX
Uber to hotel
dinner at Catch

Day 2:
brunch at Poppy + Rose
Shopping/sourcing in DTLA, fashion district
dinner at Grand Central Market

Day 3:
lazy morning at the pool
brunch at The Ivy
LACMA

Day 4:
Universal Studios
dinner at Grand Central

Day 5:
brunch at Poppy + Rose
Universal Studios

Day 6:
morning at the spa
shopping at Mood
dinner at Alta Adams

Day 7:
room service for brunch
3:30pm wheels up at LAX

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would be remiss not to acknowledge that many people have contributed to (what appears to be my) success. I appreciate the loads of support and even opposition that I’ve received along my journey, they’ve both been impactful teachers.

If I have to select an individual who’s impacted my trajectory the most uniquely, it would be my mentor, Sanford Livingston. He gave me an opportunity to demonstrate my excellence at a corporate level through my work at NorCal FDC (one of the top financial development corporations in California) and has always encouraged me to leverage the things I learn along the way to scale my own business endeavors. Sanford is a master of ingenuity, demystification of industry, and galvanizing energy, having him as an advocate has been an invaluable asset to my life.

Website: www.wearNIKI.com

Instagram: @wear_niki

Linkedin: wearNIKI

Facebook: Niki D Nova Collection