Nikole has a picture of her “Nana” in her closet in honor of what a big influence she was on her style – she was very glamorous (I remember a big head of coiffed hair) and she never left the house without makeup. It’s hard not to notice the correlation between the strong and well-dressed women in her family (her mother too) to Nikole’s fascination with the performance artist Leigh Bowery, guys in drag, and club kids, whom she is so inspired by because of their freedom to express themselves in the most extreme ways. She loves watching their confidence to appear in public looking “completely ridiculous, with glitter all over their faces and in get-ups that resemble condoms.” Nikole interprets the street into her own – often but not always less glitzy, with a myriad of mixes of denim and black leather (not surprisingly, considering her obsession with punk and rock). She is proudly from a few generations of entrepreneurs, who over time transformed a hot dog stand into beautiful restaurants. Nikole’s big black eyes reflect the deep roots of her heritage and has given her an understanding of the beauty of all parts of a culture, from the homeless in with their “dirty” and “torn” clothes to her prized Givenchy peep toe boots.