After 10 grueling years, Nile Niami has found the one fit to buy “The One” and rule them all, and that person is Richard Saghian, founder and CEO of apparel behemoth Fashion Nova. As was first revealed by the L.A. Times, it was Saghian who made the winning $126 million offer to buy Niami’s still-unfinished Bel Air monster mansion, outbidding four other billionaires. Per the sales agreement, Saghian will cough up a grand total of about $141 million for the property, an amount that includes a 12% buyer premium to the auction house.
But as of now, no money has actually changed hands. The sale will need to be court-approved by the judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings of Niami’s cash-strapped LLC, which still holds title to the 3.8-acre estate and its 105,000-square-foot, Paul McClean-designed house. An official decision on the transfer is scheduled for March 21.
Born and raised in Beverly Hills by Iranian immigrant parents, Saghian isn’t exactly a household name. But just about every millennial and Gen Z-er on the planet has heard of Fashion Nova, which launched online in 2014 and quickly rose to prominence on Instagram thanks to fans like Cardi B and the Kardashians, who often display themselves wearing the brand’s inexpensive (and sometimes daringly revealing) garments. It was Fashion Nova who helped pioneer the controversial “fast fashion” trend and inspired a deluge of copycat, cut-price clothing brands; today, the company reportedly generates over a billion dollars in annual revenue.
Despite Fashion Nova’s affordability, Saghian himself loves luxury. Last year, he paid Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife Nicole Avant $14.7 million for an oceanfront Malibu home that was once owned by actor David Spade. But since 2018, Saghian’s main residence has been a strikingly contemporary mansion in the Bird Streets neighborhood of Los Angeles that — could it be a coincidence? — was also designed by Paul McClean. In fact, it was once of the first McClean homes ever built in Southern California, completed in 2008; since then, McClean has become L.A.’s most prolific architect of boxy, sleek, ultra-modern mansions.
Like The One itself, Saghian’s Bird Streets house has an interesting history. From 2013 until his 2018 death from suicide, the house was owned by top DJ Avicii; Saghian bought the house from Avicii’s family for $17.5 million.
Avicii didn’t die in the mansion, but the property still seems to have inherited some sort of negative juju, because bad things keep happening up there. And they frequently involve Saghian’s many flashy luxury cars, a collection that litters his driveway and spills out onto the street, where he’s been known to park vehicles worth upwards of half a million bucks. Last June, a group of armed robbers reportedly followed Saghian’s Rolls Royce back to his home, where they opened fire on Saghian’s guests. In the ensuing melee, one of the robbers was shot and killed by Saghian’s security team.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the car catastrophes. Only last month, a runaway moving truck lost its brakes and accidentally attempted to demolish Saghian’s entire house. While that mission didn’t quite succeed — the mansion still stands, for the most part — the truck did tear up Saghian’s front yard, damaging his Maybach and completely flattening his white Rolls Royce and customized $800,000 Lamborghini.
