Napa’s Nude Medical Aesthetics, led by physician Dr. Zachary Wagner, pairs advanced laser and radiofrequency platforms with hotel-grade service. Back-to-back Best of Napa County Gold Awards, nearly 90,000 Instagram followers and press from Sweden to South Africa suggest Alex Hickman’s restraint-first philosophy travels well.
A Wine Country Bet on Wellness
Napa Valley has spent decades building its identity around wine, food, and hospitality. Alex Hickman is wagering that its next chapter is wellness. Nude Medical Aesthetics, the practice Hickman co-founded with Logan Vasquez, occupies a single, considered space at 1300 First Street in downtown Napa that integrates advanced aesthetics, clinical skincare, wellness therapies, and hospitality into a single visit rather than a series of separate errands.
The Numbers Behind the Interest
The timing is not incidental. The global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to grow 7.6 percent annually through 2029, reaching close to $9.8 trillion, according to the Global Wellness Institute. Europe is one of the fastest-growing regional wellness economies over the past five years, which helps explain why a masthead on that side of the Atlantic would take an interest in a small Napa practice at all. Hickman treats the figure less as validation and more as a description of an audience that already existed before anyone put a number on it.
Not Import, Influence
Five of Nude’s seven current press placements are in international markets, including Sweden, Ukraine, South Africa, and Germany—a reflection of the brand’s growing influence well beyond Napa Valley. For Hickman, that reach signals that Nude’s point of view is resonating globally: that aesthetic results should remain natural and recognizable, that skin health should sit at the center of every treatment plan, and that aesthetic care can be elevated into a thoughtful, highly considered experience rather than a transaction.
“I don’t think about Nude as expanding overseas. I think about it as evidence that skin health, done properly, resonates everywhere in the same way.”
Nude’s philosophy is reinforced by a technology platform designed for precision and personalization. Its portfolio includes UltraClear® and 3DMIRACL® 2910 nm cold-fiber laser technology, UltraClear® Laser-Coring™, Vivace Ultra® RF microneedling, XERF® multifrequency radiofrequency, BBL®, MOXI®, and Elite iQ® Pro laser hair removal with the Skintel® Melanin Reader. Rather than relying on a single device or one-off treatment, Nude’s providers combine and sequence technologies around each patient’s goals.
The clinical program is medically led by Dr. Zachary Wagner, a board-certified physician and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, whose oversight helps ensure treatment decisions are grounded in sound medical judgment, careful protocols, and natural, balanced outcomes. Aesthetic nurses Katherine Bui, RN, BSN, and Jenae DiGennaro, RN, BSN, bring advanced training, clinical precision, and a refined understanding of facial balance and individualized aesthetic care.
“The equipment is not the point. It is what lets us deliver the restraint we actually believe in, consistently, instead of hoping it works out.”
That combination of technology, medical oversight, and a highly considered patient experience has helped Nude earn the Best of Napa County Gold Award for Med Spa in both 2025 and 2026. Its Instagram community has also grown to nearly 90,000 followers, while international press placements across Sweden, Ukraine, South Africa, Germany, and other markets point to a growing global influence. For Hickman, that reach suggests Nude’s philosophy is resonating well beyond Napa Valley: natural results, skin health at the center of treatment planning, and aesthetic care approached with intention rather than excess.
The Origin Behind the Idea
Hickman’s approach to Nude was shaped in large part by his experience owning and operating businesses in hospitality, including hotels, where every detail of the guest experience matters. That background influenced how deliberately Nude was built—not simply around treatments, but around how people feel from the moment they arrive. The goal was to bring the standards of thoughtful hospitality into medical aesthetics: clinically rigorous, highly personalized, unhurried, and designed to make each patient feel genuinely cared for rather than processed.
“We never wanted Nude to feel like a traditional medical spa. We wanted to create a destination, a place where aesthetics, skin health, wellness, technology, and hospitality could exist together, and where taking care of yourself feels both elevated and completely personal.”
Rooted in Napa, Read Everywhere
Hickman sees Nude’s growth as evidence that a distinctly Napa Valley point of view can resonate on a much larger stage. Its clinical work, medical-grade skincare line, and back-to-back Best of Napa County Gold Awards in 2025 and 2026 are rooted locally, while its audience and influence continue to expand internationally. As aesthetics becomes an increasingly global conversation, Hickman positions Nude as part of a new generation of practices shaping what comes next: more thoughtful, more transparent, more centered on skin health, and still unmistakably built in Napa Valley.
About Nude Medical Aesthetics
Nude Medical Aesthetics is a Napa, California, aesthetic medicine and wellness destination at 1300 First Street, Suite 252, co-founded by CEO Alex Hickman and Logan Vasquez. The practice is medically led by Dr. Zachary Wagner, a board-certified physician and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, alongside registered nurses Katherine Bui, RN, BSN, and Jenae DiGennaro, RN, BSN. Nude was named a 2025 Best of Napa County Gold Award winner for Med Spa.
