Misha Nonoo is a US-based British-Bahraini fashion designer, best known for her eponymous line of women's ready-to-wear. She was educated in London and Paris. Her wedding to Mikey Hess, oil heir to Hess Corporation, in 2019 was reported in the media as the "wedding of the year", with numerous high-profile guests including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Prince Harry and Megan Markle.
Early years
Nonoo was born in Bahrain to an Iraqi father of Jewish descent and an English mother. Her family moved to London when she was 11, and attended ACS Cobham school and Guildford High School in Surrey. During high school, Misha Nonoo worked as a fashion model represented by Nevs agency. She moved to New York City in 2009, and worked in menswear for a tailoring company.
Career
In 2011 Misha Nonoo launched her own fashion label. While working for a tailoring company in Manhattan, she designed and made women's jackets in her time after work. Nonoo was spotted at Prune restaurant by a senior buyer from Intermix, a chain of designer-fashion boutiques, wearing one of her own designs and received a purchase order of $150,000 for her first collection. She was a finalist in the 2013 Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund. She was named to the Forbes' 30 Under 30 In Art & Style list as well as Crain's New York Business’ 40 under 40 in 2015. In 2015, Nonoo known for embracing technology received media attention for producing a "insta-show" via Instagram. She was the first designer to produce a fashion show exclusively on Instagram for her spring collection during New York Fashion Week. The concept of her show came about after a dinner at Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's home in Palo Alto, and a following tour of Instagram's offices. In September 2017, Nonoo was seen as an innovator in ready-to-wear fashion by dropping seasonal collections and manufacturing all products on-demand, thereby reducing wastage and lowering costs for her customers. In 2019 Misha Nonoo collaborated with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on a clothing collection for the women's charity group Smart Works, along with retailers John Lewis, Jigsaw and Marks and Spencer. A-List celebrities who have worn Misha Nonoo's clothing line include Bella Hadid, Ellie Goulding, Emma Watson, Cate Blanchett, Amal Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Irina Shayk.
