To celebrate the launch of our limited-edition FEED x Hill House Mini Market Tote, we caught up with Hill House Home’s CEO & Founder, Nell Diamond whose strong sense of style and design has built a fiercely loyal community – and a viral dress sensation.
Name & Occupation: Nell Diamond, Founder and CEO of Hill House Home
I’m a woman on a mission: to make people feel great about their outfits
What cause or issue are you most passionate about?
I’m passionate about advocating for children who can’t advocate for themselves. I work closely with UNICEF year-round on their important initiatives and disaster response programs, and appreciate that FEED’s mission is a perfect extension of the amazing work they do.
Could you tell us about your founding story?
I founded the business with a dream to make happy things for happy places. Eight years later we now make everything from dresses to bedding to swimwear!
At Hill House, you set out to design products that bring beauty and joy to everyday rituals. Many of us may know Hill House for your cult-favorite, signature Nap Dresses. Tell us about the inspiration behind that product – and what drove their viral success!
When we designed the first Nap Dress, I was looking for a garment that could carry me through early mornings with my kids all the way into board meetings at the office and drinks with friends after work; a garment I could feel comfortable, polished, and pretty in. I’ve always loved dresses (I’m not a pants girl,) but I wanted to make a dress that could truly last me through a long day being many things.
We have our early adopters to thank for the viral success of the Nap Dress. Our loyal fans who knew Hill House from our inception were the very first to try the Nap Dress when we put it out at our Bleecker Street store. From the first purchase, word of the Nap Dress spread. We like to call it “the group chat effect,” as friends told each other how much they loved wearing our products.
You launch your products in buzzy collection drops that we’ve all come to know and love (and look forward to!), where did this strategy come from and why do you think your customers love it so much?
Our drop strategy was actually born of necessity! We never intended to sell out when we first released our fashion collections, but having a truly viral product meant that demand greatly outpaced supply. We built our drop model in an attempt to make shopping at Hill House a little more fun and community-oriented while still ensuring if you weren’t there at drop time, you’d still get the dress you wanted.
What’s next for Hill House?
I’m really excited about our retail strategy right now. I love being in stores with our customers and seeing them try on all of the products we create. There’s nothing like that in-store experience. I can’t wait to open a few more stores in the next couple of years!
Favorite Hill House products lately (this might be a hard one)?
I’m obsessed with our new Naomi Nap Dress. We first launched it in our Fall collection and it sold out quickly, but we have an amazing tartan version coming out soon. I can’t wait to release our tartan collection on October 17 – Holiday is always one of my favorite drops!
FEED Fire Round:
- Coffee or tea - Coffee
- Minimalist or maximalist - Maximalist
- Early bird or night owl - Neither! I need my full eight hours of sleep
- Manhattan or Brooklyn - Manhattan
- Three things you always have in your bag - Compact mirror, lipstick, wallet and keys (they are one!)
- The FEED bag that’s so me: Our new FEED collab Mini Market Tote! I’m obsessed with our Berry print and think it looks so cute on the FEED bag!
- Giving back for me, means leading with empathy
- The #1 thing that gets you up and out of bed in the morning - It’s actually three things- my six year old Henry and two year old twins, Willow and Sebastian.