Nell Diamond is the founder and chief executive of fashion and homeware label Hill House Home, which is famous for the viral Nap Dress, a cheeky name for the smocked gown, designed to be worn for day or night, that has inspired copycats across the globe.
Sometimes called the queen of “grand Millennial” style, Diamond started her business as a student at the Yale School of Management in 2016, looking to fill a hole in the market for well-priced luxury home linens, such as sheets and towels. The brand chugged along for three years before it embraced fashion with the release of its first Nap Dresses in August 2019. That winter, with its first drop of tartan-patterned Nap dresses that quickly sold out, Diamond realised the brand might have a best-seller on their hands.
In 2020, when the world retreated indoors in the face of the pandemic, the Nap Dress went viral, giving people a reason to wear something other than sweatpants. Released drop-style, customers proved to be as intense as getting their hands on a nap dress as sneakerheads are about snapping up a new pair of Nikes.
The Nap Dress’ domination hasn’t wavered since, and by late 2021, fashion made up 90 percent of the brand’s revenue. It’s since expanded to items beyond the Nap Dress, including sweaters, tops, skirts, pyjamas and shoes, and inked collaborations with Netflix’s hit Bridgerton series. The brand has experimented with brick-and-mortar retail with a holiday pop-up in New York City’s Soho neighbourhood as well as the posh Nantucket island.
