A brand with a fresh, global perspective.

“A Nanushka women is someone who is confident in her beliefs and cherishes her modern values and the planet. [She] is someone who likes style, but doesn’t sacrifice comfort for it.” That’s according to the engineer of this modern, effortless ethos: Sandra Sandor, the creator of Nanushka, and the woman behind NYFW’s freshest new addition.

The Budapest-born Sandor, a London College of Fashion alumnus, founded Nanushka in 2005, but in the past couple years she’s taken massive strides. Nanushka has popped up on luxury e-retailers like Net-a-Porter and its inimitable aesthetic has garnered the brand a global following. This September, Nanushka made its first official NYFW appearance, showing a collection that drew from Sandor’s Eastern roots and Western education. It also featured vegan leather and the brand’s first complete jewelry collection. If Sandor wasn’t already a fashion force to be reckoned with, her NYFW presentation served as a proper introduction. Here is what she had to say about the experience and the collection.

You showed for the first time at NYFW. How does it feel and what did you learn?

It’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s just as great as when I showed the first time in February. The brand [has come] a really long way, and this is a dream come true. I think showing for the second time helped us prepare more for the whole experience, but it also raised…expectations.

Is the creative process for designing jewelry different than that for designing clothes?

Jewelry was part of most of the collections for a few seasons now as styling pieces. I love experimenting with it but we just never developed it into a full collection before. We work with an  Italian family business who has been working with jewelry over many generations. I really like working with jewelry, I’m always looking for new challenges.

What made you decide to debut the collection at NYFW as opposed to Paris?

First, I think New York is more open to newcomers, smaller brands who are trying to find their voice. Second, the idea of New York is also in our brand values. I like to mix distant cultural references, and New York is a big melting pot for all these different cultures — I think it’s the perfect place.

Do you have a favorite look from the collection?

I love the vegan leather trench coat, which also could be worn as a dress, and I also love the silk jumpsuit. It’s flowy but tailored at the same time.

The 2019 Spring RTW collection drew upon ancient Egypt for inspiration. What attracted you to this part of the world creatively?

Egypt is one of my favorite places. I love their symbols, their traditions, architecture — they had a great influence on every part of our lives. I drew inspiration mainly from the traditional summer dress Shenti — you can see the tie and knot details on many of the pieces. I also got inspired by the proportions [and] the simplicity of the Shenti [juxtaposed with] the richness of the gold jewelry, [and] finding the balance in the proportions.

Your pieces have global appeal, with fans all over the world. When you embark on designing a new collection, do you keep that in mind?

I think being stocked at all the amazing e-retailers, you have to think about this. I’m trying to include into every collection [universal] pieces. For example, almost every one of the collections have our robe coats.

What made you decide to move to all vegan leather this season?

This was something that we have been working for a while. It’s been a longer process and I’m so happy we were able to achieve this.

Who or what would you say are some of your personal style influences?

I love vintage shops — I can spend hours in them finding treasures. I also like travel and discovering new places through their culture and nature.