Studio Nichsolson’s Nick Wakeman and Aaron Levine launch minimalist menswear capsule

Once you reach a certain level of success, true peers can be hard to find. When Monocle meets Studio Nicholson’s founder and creative director, Nick Wakeman, and American menswear designer Aaron Levine an hour before the launch party for their joint collection, the pair are adamant that they couldn’t have done this with anyone else. “This is not a brand collaboration,” says Wakeman. “We’re co-designing.” Wakeman founded her brand 15 years ago; Levine spent the early part of his career revitalising some of the US’s biggest high-street names, such as Vince and Abercrombie & Fitch, before launching his own label in 2024.

Now, he’s challenging Wakeman to reinterpret Studio Nicholson’s distinct, minimalist aesthetic through a 26-piece co-designed capsule collection. The line includes everything from knitwear to denim shirting and suede jackets, taking cues from vintage and transatlantic references. It even ventures beyond the brand’s signature monochromatic palette. Here, the two designers discuss how they work together and why experience, humility and integrity matter.

How did the collaboration come about?
Nick Wakeman: Studio Nicholson has collaborated with other brands before but I have never worked toe-to-toe with another designer. I wanted something to light a firework in me and, during a management meeting, I suggested bringing in someone to work alongside me. Aaron’s was the only name I put in the pot.

Aaron Levine: We’d spoken online for a few years and finally met a year and a half ago in London for a 15-minute breakfast. It clicked. Since then, we’ve met regularly in Paris or London and begun making something together – I’d been suggesting we should for years.

Did you find common ground from the beginning?
NW: We were already sending each other reference points: films stills, archive imagery, memes of Rod Stewart on a boat. Aaron had this great presence online. I remember seeing him in his garden wearing a terry robe and Charvet slippers and thinking, “This guy doesn’t care – I love that.”

What did the design process of creating your capsule collection look like?
AL: We’d never done this before and I was nervous. I came to London for a week and first thing on Monday morning we headed out to source some vintage pieces for reference. I need to see all the textures and colours together, so I laid out outfits on the floor. It looks chaotic to other people but that’s how it comes to life. Nick got it immediately – we were speaking the same language.

Aaron, you have admitted that you may have been let go from your role at Abercrombie & Fitch for not saying “yes” enough. Why challenge ideas?
AL: I spent about 20 years working in big, publicly traded companies. There are boxes to tick and creativity becomes a pitch. Saying “yes” is easier. With Nick, it’s not about selling an idea. It feels like being in a band again, playing music that you love.

NW: As much as you have brilliant people working for you, they’re not always going to throw you a curve ball; they want to please. He’s not like that. After 30 years in the industry, it’s rare to work with someone the same level as you. Your peers are the ones with a Rolodex of information and the reference points. You need that mutual respect to hear those opinions and take the challenges.

What’s the difference between working with highstreet brands and higher-end, more niche labels?
AL: You can do whatever you want as long as you’re true to the customer you’re targeting. It doesn’t matter if it’s a mall-based store or luxury label, you have to have integrity.

What have you learnt from working together?
NW: I’ve loved having a proper partner. As much as I talk him down from doing a turquoise ribbed sweater, we meet in the middle. I’d never have made these pieces otherwise.

AL: I feel like I worked 20 years in this industry to be able to work with Nick. She’s taught me discipline.