It’s in the Cards for Contessa Mills

The designer Contessa Mills has an eye for what’s next. It’s not just because her playful, feminine designs have been taken up of late by fashionable favorites like Maia Reficco and Charli XCX, who chose her pieces for several festival dates over the summer, but because she takes inspiration every season from a different card from the tarot deck. “I pull tarot cards and read them for myself pretty frequently, but mostly for fun,” she says. “I am not someone who pulls a card in the morning and lets it dictate every decision I make that day. For me, tarot is a positive escape. Even if it is just five minutes, it gives me a moment to step into another world, reflect on something differently, and usually come away feeling a little happier.”

Since leaving a job in finance to launch her brand in 2024, Mills has established a reputation and a dedicated following for her designs, which combine simple lines and voluminous shapes with just the right touch of embellishment and a artsy twist that feels very of-the-moment. “The Contessa Mills woman is social, metropolitan, feminine, and has a gothic side,” the designer explains. “She loves to dress up and stand out, and she is drawn to the mystical, the unexpected, and the slightly unordinary. There is always a sense of levity to it. Nothing feels too precious or too serious.”

Mills says she takes constant inspiration from her hometown of New York, which she calls “a city that allows, and even encourages, people to really dress up and develop a strong sense of personal style.” She presented her first runway show last year for her Spring 2026 collection, The Lovers, showcased here. The sensual, evocative designs took reference from the traditional depiction of Adam and Eve seen on the card, resulting in an exchange of masculine and feminine details that helped expand her vision for her line. She was invited to join the official CFDA fashion week calendar earlier this year to showcase her Fall 2026 collection, the Queen of Cups, a move that she says was especially significant given her lack of formal design training. “It felt incredibly meaningful. Starting a brand can really shake your confidence because you are constantly putting something deeply personal out into the world and hoping people respond to it,” she adds. “There are so many moments where you question whether you are doing the right thing or whether any of it is working. Being welcomed onto the official CFDA calendar felt like a real moment of validation. It was a calendar I had looked at and aspired to be part of for years, so seeing Contessa Mills on it felt surreal. I was really proud, but more than anything, I felt relieved and encouraged to keep going.”

For Spring 2027, which she showed earlier this month, Mills focused on The Sun, pulled from her copy of Sahar Huneidi-Palmer’s The Book of Tarot, her starting point for each season. “The Sun immediately felt fun and joyful, and it gave me permission to be a little more playful than usual,” she explains. “The card itself depicts a gleeful child riding a horse, which made me think about myself as a little girl. I was always a girly girl and loved fashion from a really young age. I was constantly playing dress-up, whether that meant wearing costumes, putting on my mom’s clothes, or dressing in my dad’s oversized work shirts and ties. So much of what I love about fashion is the simple joy of playing dress-up, and this season became about really doubling down on that feeling. I wanted the clothes to capture that sense of freedom, imagination, and excitement around getting dressed.”

She turned to her own childhood photos as reference points, and says she feels that in just a few short years she has already learned so much about how to shape each design, look, and collection to help embody the æsthetic she is establishing. “As I have developed as a designer, I think I have become much better at editing and making sure every decision serves the same story,” she explains. “Earlier on, I might have fallen in love with an individual piece or detail and found a place for it in the collection simply because I liked it. Now I am more disciplined about asking whether it belongs in the world we are building, how it relates to the other pieces, and whether it still feels distinctly Contessa Mills. I think the result is a collection that feels more cohesive and intentional, while still having the playfulness and spontaneity that are important to the brand.”

As her brand continues to grow, Mills says one thing she will never stray from is her sense of joy. “I get dressed every day partly because it is fun,” she says. “Clothes can change my mood, make me feel confident, and help me decide who I want to be that day. I don’t think everything that gives your life meaning has to be serious.” Looking ahead, she promises to remain true to herself, even as her vision continues to expand. “The most important thing to me is that growth never comes at the expense of what makes the brand interesting,” she adds. “I want Contessa Mills to get bigger, but still feel specific, creative, and a little strange.”