Remembering Richard Nicoll, 1977–2016

Richard Nicoll, an Australian fashion designer, has died at 39 in Sydney. Nicoll joined us for our 200th issue celebrations last year, sitting for a portrait in our photographic space at the Selfridges Hotel.

(Image credit: Jamie McGregor Smith)

By Jack Moss

last updated 30 September 2022

The Australian fashion designer Richard Nicoll has died at the age of 39.

Nicoll – who was based in London for much of his career – was a stalwart of the London fashion community. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2002, he created designs for a number of esteemed houses (Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs among them), worked as creative director at Cerruti Paris and was a frequent exhibitor at London Fashion Week for almost a decade.

His practice was multifaceted, also encompassing collaged graphic works with artist Linder Sterling from A/W 2009 onwards, a 2012 bridal range for Topshop and S/S 2015 collaborations with Sweaty Betty and Disney.

He closed his eponymous label in 2015 to start the next chapter of his career as creative director at Jack Wills, a position he left earlier this year, returning to Australia to work on a number of projects. He had recently accepted the job of creative director at Adidas in Germany, which was due to commence in January 2017.

In 2015, Nicoll contributed to Wallpaper* Handmade, creating a pair of globe-shaped, Bohemian-style decanters with Czech glass masters Moser. Earlier this year, he created a futuristic reflective dress, conceived to offset Philippe Rahm's 'Spectral Light' in our W* Design Awards 'Best Bright Ideas' photo shoot (W*203).

Wallpaper's thoughts are with all his friends and family.

Earlier this year, he created a futuristic reflective dress, conceived to offset Philippe Rahm’s ’Spectral Light’ in our W* Design Awards ’Best Bright Ideas’ photo shoot.

For Wallpaper* Handmade last year, Nicoll ventured beyond the fashion realm with luxury glass manufacturer Moser. He delved into the archives of the Czech brand to design these globe-shaped decanters, inspired by the brand’s hundreds of floral patterns.

women in pastel-pink dress — For his brand’s tenth birthday and spring/summer 2014 collection, the designer offered a rose-coloured view of the future with his diaphanous pastel-pink layers mimicking the show’s bubble-gum hued benches, scooping a 2014 Wallpaper* Design Award for his efforts.

His practice was multifaceted, encompassing a number of collaborations including with activewear company Sweaty Betty (pictured, for his S/S 2015 womenswear offering).

models in grey outfits — Nicoll jumped right into the sporting swing of things for S/S 2015.

Nicoll’s menswear collections sway between almost jailbird uniformity and opulent dandyism – his S/S 2015 offering struck a happy balance between the two.

’Easy opulence’, ’textured simplicity’ and ’modernist romance’ were the attractive contradictions that the designers threw about for his A/W 2014 presentation.

At London Collections: Men A/W 2014, Nicoll demonstrated a punchy bravado that was a departure from previous shows.

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In memoriam

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*. Having previously held roles at 10, 10 Men and AnOther magazines, he joined the team in 2022. His work has a particular focus on the moments where fashion and style intersect with other creative disciplines – among them art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and profiling the industry’s leading figures and brands.