Smith left Milly last year after she and her husband and business partner, Andrew Oshrin, decided to divorce and sold Milly to MMJ LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of S. Rothschild in April 2019.
“I started formulating my business plan pre-COVID-19, but I always wanted it to be a direct-to-consumer brand,” said Smith in an interview Friday. “I was ready for a fresh change following Milly, which I launched as a wholesale brand. I really loved the feeling of independence and control and being able to speak directly to the consumer through a direct-to-consumer brand.
Ultimately, Smith would like to design cocktail dresses and going-out pieces, “but it’s not really the life we’re living right now.” “We want to feel and see something more luxurious on our bodies, but we’ve become quite attached to the comfort aspect,” said Smith. For her first collection, she is working with cashmere, silk charmeuse and Italian alpaca.
While Milly was clearly focused on the advanced contemporary market, Smith is moving into a higher price point.