TINA NICOLE

Most attorneys can’t claim a love for textiles, but Tina Nicole is not your average lawyer. As the lead designer and co-founder of Nathan Anthony Furniture, nor is she your average furniture designer.  When the vivacious American of Italian descent studied abroad at Stratford-Upon-Avon, England with UCLA and at Bologna University, Italy, and then spent the summers of her young adulthood touring Italian cities, she was exposed not only to beautiful fabric, but also to the distinctly European design sensibility that informs her work today.

Tina had always yearned to express herself in creative terms – before pursuing her professional goals she completed the fashion merchandise, marketing and textiles program at FIDM and was a window dresser for iconic retail brands Colors de Benetton and Polo Ralph Lauren. So perhaps it was kismet, after all, marrying furniture and mattress factory owner Khai Mai. In 2004, having cut her teeth in the esteemed chambers of United States Federal District Court Chief Judge, Terry J. Hatter Jr. and Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge, Alex Kozinski, she left the office and courtroom commute for good, to start the couple’s custom furniture design business, which is named for their son. Finally, surrounded by beautiful upholstery covers, she gets to dress up the sofas, chairs, and other furnishings in the modern and contemporary styles she likes best.

Features: Tina Nicole has been recognized for design excellence by The American Society of Furniture Designers and The Design Society in the U. K. Her award winning furniture products for Nathan Anthony have been featured in top interior design projects and media outlets, including Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Design et al and Milieu magazines.

Awards: Winner, Sofa Category 2015 International Product Design Award, London; Finalist, Chair Category 2015 International Product Design Award, London; Finalist, 2012 Pinnacle Awards, Sofa Category, North Carolina.

Philosophy:

“You have to constantly observe and study everything around you. In the fields of furniture, home décor, fashion, architecture, fine art, graphic art, music, movies, theater and technology – ideas are everywhere. Designing works best when not heeding convention or rules. Look at things upside down, sideways and out of order. Focus on the parts that make up the whole. Look at the shadows a light casts. When you look at things outside of context, you get a glimpse of something new. Being inspired to create is when you feel truly alive. Just start drawing a line or write a sentence or slap paint on a canvas and let it compose.” – Tina Nicole