Nicky Wallace obituary: Menswear designer whose clients included David Bowie and TV show Miami Vice

Born: 12 September 1952

Died: 17 July 2022

Nicky Wallace, who has died aged 70 from cancer, was an Irish menswear designer whose name was synonymous with sharp, modern suiting and adventurous detailing. He developed a deep understanding of the craft growing up in Wexford surrounded by old-school tailoring.

One of eight children of the Wexford tailor James Wallace and his wife Ita, he spent many hours in his father’s workshop surrounded by fabrics and patterns absorbing the skills of a traditional trade. Having won several awards during college in the UK and working with various design houses, he launched his first collection in 1982, which brought in orders from US department stores Macys, Paul Stuart and Carson Pirie Scott of Chicago.

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His first big success was designing Johnny Logan’s white suit for his second Eurovision Song Contest win in 1987, the suit now on display in the Abba Museum in Stockholm. Later he established a reputation as a “tailor to the stars” working on Miami Vice for Universal Studios in the US designing suits for the detectives Crockett and Tubbs in the TV series.

In the UK, Wallace’s collections were stocked in many specialist boutiques including on the King’s Road in London, attracting rock stars George Michael and David Bowie, for whom he designed a long linen coat. Other fans included Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and a host of UK Premier Leagure footballers including Manchester United’s Wes Brown, who wore a Wallace suit for his wedding.

In 2000, he opened a shop on Dublin’s South William Street concentrating on made-to-measure with his signature “New Aristocrat” look winning many new clients, well known businessmen and figures from the entertainment industry.

A regular at menswear trade fairs in New York and Florence (while also pursuing an interest in deep-sea diving) he eventually left Ireland and settled in the historic port of Saint Malo in Brittany in 2012 where his spacious seaside boutique attracted wealthy customers, mostly from Paris.

He returned to Ireland in 2020 after a cancer diagnosis to be nearer his family, setting up shop in the Bullring in Wexford and continuing to sell his ready-to-wear line from his website. His suits had noticeable details such as coloured buttonholes, velvet collars and channel stitched lapels, with everything made by small Italian artisan families using traditional techniques and the finest Italian fabrics. He was also starting to tailor for women.

‘Zest for life’

A popular figure and a great conversationalist who didn’t suffer fools gladly, he was described by Maura Bell, mayor of Wexford, who helped him secure a shop in the town, as “having a real zest for life and a massively positive attitude despite his cancer diagnosis. He was always planning further projects, always very positive.”

He married Carmel Corish, daughter of Labour Party leader Brendan Corish, in his early 20s. She is the mother of their two children, Lauren and Karl, who survive him along with his granddaughter Mia, daughter-in-law Jenni, Lauren’s partner Tom, brothers and sisters.