Nia Thomas Redefines Resortwear With Modern Elegance
Some people spend their entire lives trying to home in on their passions, but for Nia Thomas, it seems like her destiny was written from the start. Growing up on New York's Long Island, she spent her evenings assisting her aunts in their alteration shop, learning just as much about the world through the lens of design as she did in any classroom. Within the walls of her family shop, she traveled through eras of history via vintage sewing patterns and discovered different cultures through the textures and colors of endless bolts of fabric.
Years later, all these lessons manifested in her eponymous resortwear brand. Restless and eager, she first hung out her shingle at age 23. Motivated both by a desire to travel and the hope of seeing more Black female designers rise to the mainstream of fashion, Thomas channeled ease and serenity in her early designs. 'Honestly, at the time I just wanted to feel like I was on vacation,' she jokingly confirms. Hand-crocheted dresses and bikinis, alongside seashell-embellished designs in shades of white and cream, quickly became staples and bestsellers for the young brand. From there, everything started to fall into place.
'It all happened so fast,' she says. 'I went from putting together a small fashion show to staying up until 3 A.M. creating a website so people could buy my designs.' Reflecting on her early days as a designer, she chalks up some of her fearlessness to naïveté. Nonetheless, her story motivates her to this day. 'You can do this at any age,' she says. 'You just have to be a little delusional and know that nothing can stop you.'
It's a sentiment that also sums up the process of creating her fall 2025 collection. Regal tones of blue, purple, and red were a departure from her usual neutral hues. 'I have such an affinity for warm weather and traveling to places that are rich with culture and color,' Thomas says. But her lineup was also full of contradictions. Halter tops were hand-crocheted using leather cording, while long coats and bolero jackets made of paper raffia swept the runway—letting us know that resortwear is for everywhere and anytime. 'When people think of materials like raffia, they automatically think of a straw bag you take to the beach,' Thomas says. 'But I say, 'No, you can wear it in the fall as a coat,' because I want to challenge what people think these materials can be used for.'
Thomas had a pop-up late last year at 'It' resort Palm Heights in the Grand Cayman, and her line is sold at Moda Operandi. Though her impeccable crocheted designs wouldn't be out of place at any of the White Lotus resort locations, she refuses to be pigeonholed. 'I want to steer away from solely being known for resortwear; I feel like it's just the thing that [resonated] with people. Still, I'm glad because there are so many designers who spend years trying to figure out their signature,' she says. 'Resortwear chose me; I didn't choose it.'
A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE.
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Elle
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You see Lohan shredding in the dream sequence at the top of the film. The instrument appears in the final performance scene as well. This one's not a Freaky Friday reference but a nod to another film in the Lindsay Lohan cinematic universe: Mean Girls. Fans may remember the iconic quote, 'On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was. '…It's October 3rd.'' Funnily enough, so-called Mean Girls Day is the same date as Anna's wedding in Freakier Friday. During a scene where she looks at the calendar app on her phone, her wedding is scheduled for October 3. Lohan told Collider that it was a total accident. 'I genuinely don't think anyone realized it,' she said, until the date was printed on the invitations for the film. 'Because it was one of the first days shooting and I was like, 'Does anyone realize this is October 3rd? That's Mean Girls Day,'' she added. But Lohan was cool with it. 'I was like, 'Let's leave it, it's an Easter egg.' And Nisha was like, 'We're not doing Easter eggs.' I'm like, 'Well, you did!'' she recalled. The beginning of the film contains a montage of Anna trying to wake up her daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), to get ready for school—much like Anna's mom, Tess, did to her in the original film. But instead of trying to pull her out of bed from the ankles à la Freaky Friday, Anna gives gentle parenting a try, knocking on Harper's door multiple times to get ready. Harper's door is also covered in posters, like Anna's teenage bedroom door. While dropping her daughter off at school, Anna calls after her from the car, 'Make good choices!' It's the same line her mother said to her while taking her to school in the first film. Tess gives her a knowing look, clocking that her daughter has followed her lead. In another reference to Lohan's iconic repertoire, Elaine Hendrix, who played Lohan's would-be stepmother in The Parent Trap appears in a Freakier Friday scene. She's on set during a photo shoot for Ella, the pop star Anna manages. Ganatra told ELLE how that moment came to be: 'The fun call I got to make was, we were filming a scene, and I really wanted Elaine Hendrix to make an appearance. I called Elaine, and I was like, 'Would you please do a cameo?' And she just came out and did that. I was doing my fantasy version of this movie, hoping anybody else would catch on to all the little Easter eggs of Parent Trap and Mean Girls. It's a little bit ode to Lindsay's [filmography]. Elaine's character is named Blake, so little things are hidden in there.' A couple of years ago, MUNA dressed up as the members of Pink Slip during a Halloween show and covered 'Take Me Away.' In a full-circle moment, they appear in Freakier Friday as the pop star Ella's (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) band. They perform with her during her show at The Wiltern. (Funny enough, that's where MUNA performed the Pink Slip cover too.) 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It turns out, Jake gets invited to Anna's wedding with a plus-one. During the final scene, as she's walking back down the aisle, she and Tess find Jake in the crowd with a woman who looks just like Tess did in the original film—printed dress, short pixie cut, and all. "[We] were like, 'Oh, Chad's going to be in town [while the wedding scene is shooting], so let's put him in the wedding,'' Ganatra recalls. 'I was like, 'What if he has a girlfriend that looks like Jamie's character from the first one?' And Kristin [Burr, a Freakier Friday producer] thought that was hilarious. So she was like, 'I'm going to get the dress.'' Jake says there's just 'something about her,' though he can't put his finger on it. It's a silly little bit, but I for one am glad we're all ready to admit Jake and Tess had better chemistry than he and Anna did. But perhaps that's a story for another time. Freakier Friday brings a number of sequences and characters back from the first film, and while they don't really count as Easter eggs, but they're still fun little parallels. For example, Anna is preparing for a wedding just like her mom was in Freaky Friday. Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) and her mother return at Anna's bachelorette and wedding, though this time their magical fortune cookies are not the reason for the body switching (the first film's portrayal of Asian stereotypes was a little problematic). Instead, a fortune teller played hilariously by Vanessa Bayer accidentally causes the supernatural swap, which is still marked by an earthquake. Mr. Bates (Stephen Tobolowsky), Anna's mean teacher from Freaky Friday, returns in the sequel to wreak havoc on her daughter's life. And in a callback to one of the first film's most iconic scenes, Anna (who is still swapped with her daughter, Harper) goes onstage for a Pink Slip performance but is once again without her guitar skills. Harper (who is really Anna on the inside) sneaks to the back of the stage, ready to play to cover up for her mom. But instead of hiding Harper in the background, Anna brings her out to stage to perform together. With all these little shoutouts, Freakier Friday pays homage to its roots and plays up the nostalgia, while still forging its own path at the same time.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
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ITV presenter says ‘I don't know what I did wrong' after game show cancellation
Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas has been left confused by the cancellation of his ITV game show. The channel has axed its series 99 to Beat, which premiered earlier this year, with Thomas stating: 'I don't know what I did wrong.' Thomas, 36, who played Adam Barton in Emmerdale until 2018, presented the series alongside his brother, former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas. The format saw 100 players whittled down over numerous games in a bid to win a £25,000 cash prize. News of the show's cancellation was revealed by Adam on his podcast Mancs on the Mic, where he admitted he was blindsided by ITV's decision. 'When I am positive about something, it gets cancelled,' he said. 'Like I did one series of [I'm a Celebrity spin-off] Extra Camp – got cancelled. The next presenting job I did was with Ryan – 99 To Beat – and that's got cancelled.' ITV confirmed the news to The Independent, but has not given a specific reason as to why the show was axed – despite it being 'one of the biggest entertainment launches this year' across all of its channels and streaming platforms. 'It reached 12.5 million viewers and was streamed over four million times on ITVX,' a spokesperson said, adding: 'The Thomas brothers are fantastic presenters, but unfortunately at this stage, we will not be recommissioning.' The 99 to Beat format originated in Belgium and has been adapted in 12 territories. The UK version aired in March 2025. Another show that received the axe this week after just one series is the critically acclaimed BBC drama This Town. Created by Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, the drama is set in the West Midlands during the 1980s and focuses on a group of young people who immerse themselves in the region's burgeoning music scene amid a backdrop of social unrest. However, despite strong reviews and winning Best Single Drama or Limited Series at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March, the show's run has been cut short. In a statement given to The Independent, a BBC spokesperson said: 'We're hugely grateful to Steven Knight and the cast and crew for bringing This Town to life – in no small part due to Steven's passion for the West Midlands.' Solve the daily Crossword
