Nicole Markoff, the founder and designer of the unique women’s streetwear brand called Nicacelly, calls herself a “fabric hunter” based on her passion for various patterns, graphics, and recycling of dead-stock T-shirts. In her line of dresses, hoodies, and tops for women, she’s created a unique system of using men’s deadstock T-shirts—mostly with hip-hop styles or artistic urban graphics--from various relationships she’s developed with companies in San Francisco. Pieces are then re-sewn into essentially, very cool and streetwise dresses, tops, and hoodies for women.

But her designs don’t stop there: Next step is taking appliqués and various woven belts and pieces made from her production team in Thailand to bring the garment altogether creating stunning looks that border on streetwear couture—made with sustainable ethics and yet reasonably priced. In her 4^th year, the Nicacelly collection featured at United Fashion Trade Show and MAGIC’s South Hall also introduced her sustainable bamboo fleece and soy blends which look like the most comfortable hoodie dresses imaginable with patterns ranging from urban art graphics to garden motifs all in the same pieces.

As Nicole explains about the women’s streetwear marketplace, “It’s good timing because generally there are a lot of small boys T’s out there and what we do is customize them to fit various sized women.” In the future, Nicole hopes to turn Nicacelly into a cooperative whereby part of the company also employs the people that supply her with products. Overall, Nicacelly stands out for their full-circle approach of taking what’s coming from the streets and re-creating pieces mixed with ethically and environmentally friendly approaches into garments that are edgy and beautiful for women.