Meet the Designer Reimagining the Power Suit for Today

Few outfits provide the sartorial confidence of the power suit. But just like in men’s suiting, it takes an adept hand and a keen eye to get it right in both spirit and construction for women. In her first collection since a near death experience, Sisi Li, founder of Nells Nelson is perfectly poised to do just that. Li’s lived experience is palpable in each piece of her new collection: New Heart, Same Beat.

The brand began as a way to pamper women, Li explains: She wanted to create a line that perfectly balanced comfort and structure so she adapted the suit—a uniform ostensibly associated with formalwear or businesswear for men—for a female consumer. “A suit is a complete set,” she tells Robb Report. “There’s an ease to that, a sense of being pulled together without effort. That’s what I am for in my designs, clothes that give you the same effortless confidence.” Shirking the rigidity of traditional men’s suiting, it’s the simplicity of a suit that Li has adapted to create her line. “I want them to feel as easy as wearing a tracksuit, executed with materials that are light and construction that moves with you,” she says. “That’s the signature of a Nells Nelson suit: structured yet fluid, refined yet effortless.” 

It’s a passion sparked in Li as a child, passed down from her father who she says was always impeccably dressed. “I observed how carefully he selected his clothes, how what he wore could project confidence, power, or quiet sophistication,” she says. “It wasn’t just about what he wore; it was about how fabric, proportion and fit came together to tell a story. That stayed with me.”

Li’s clothing continues to tell stories: notably, her most recent collection tells the story of her return to design after a heart attack and heart failure. In 2023, Li began to feel sick, initially chalking it up to the grief and stress of losing her father. What began as intermittent headaches escalated to such debilitating symptoms she couldn’t walk; she was constantly nauseous. One doctor told her she had a virus and prescribed her some over the counter medication. But like so many women, her symptoms were misdiagnosed and minimized: when another doctor finally ran an EKG, she was having a heart attack.  

A case of rheumatic fever in childhood had damaged her heart, though the impact went undiagnosed for decades. “As women, we are so strong,” she says of the years she spent with the condition going undetected. “We just keep pushing through life, working, going, not realizing how much our bodies are  carrying.”  

After open heart surgery, Li was in the ICU for three weeks, time she spent shaping what would come next for Nells Nelson. “When I woke up in the ICU, I didn’t even realize how sick I had been — that I’d been on life support and on heavy medication for four days,” she says. “But the first thing I did was start sketching.”

And so began the journey of her Fall 2025 collection: indulgently draped jackets, trousers, and blouses are perfectly married with androgynous silhouettes in versatile but lush tones of grays and greens, black and cream all perfectly attuned to the daily life of the idealized Nells Nelson woman, who Li says values quality, longevity, and understated sophistication.  

“Before my near death experience, I always aimed to design for strong confident women,” she says. “After this experience I’ve learned to express internal strength through my design. I was trained to always create a year in advance, the next collection. But now, I’ve learned to appreciate the present just as much as imagining the future.” 

The collection also features a selection of bold red accessories: a nod to what Li has been through, and a beacon to raise awareness for other women. “When I look back, what stands out most is how the signs of heart failure were completely missed or dismissed,” she says. “Later, I learned that women can have completely different symptoms than what we’re told.” She hopes to inspire women to be proactive about their heart health. “Heart disease can be preventable, but you  have to get checked by a cardiologist,” she says. 

Throughout her recovery, designing provided Li with both a balm and a purpose. “Even from that hospital bed, I was imagining the next collection. I guess that’s how I survived—by creating,” she says. “Seeing this  collection finally come to life, knowing how close I came to losing it all, feels like a second chance. I’m incredibly grateful to be back, well enough to be in the arena again, doing what I love. And knowing that women will wear these designs, carrying part of my story with them—that’s what makes it  all worth it.”