Lafayette 148’s creative director Emily Smith is now three seasons, or chapters, into this year’s umbrella theme of craftsmanship and finding similarities to other art mediums. For spring, which represents new beginnings, she was drawn to the idea of life, or figure, drawing with charcoal.
“There was a drawing studio down in SoHo by our old office [where the brand was founded] that I used to go to all the time — it’s one of those things that I feel as an artist, that’s your workout. You’re not worried about making it perfect, but it’s about getting started, so we wanted to celebrate that,” she said. Titled “In the Drawing Room,” the collection was aptly presented within a large, raw space, designed to embody an artist’s studio and gallery exhibition, in the Meatpacking District.
She started by creating the collection’s smudge motif, which was excellently engineered and printed to seamlessly wrap around the body on an black and white belted viscose trench, as well as a chic tuxedo jacket with silk twill pajama pant.
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“I’ve been admiring this suit. I would wear that jacket over so many things, but also the pants with a T-shirt and pair of boots, or dress it up with heels,” actress Rachel Brosnahan said of the look, who also noted she’s consistently drawn to the luxurious New York label for its elevated, chic yet comfortable interchangeable and carry on-friendly layers. “I appreciate the ability to move all these pieces around and make so many different outfits.”
This mentality extended to the brand’s classic white, boyfriend shirt updated with the rubbed black print (and worn with relaxed white jeans), and array of easy textural tailoring in hues of paper blue, pencil gray and chalk yellow. One layered suit look in particular was especially soft and crafted in the vein of Neopolitan menswear tailoring, Smith said of the shoulder pad-free, unlined linen number with soft sueded finish. Further emphasizing life drawing theme were intriguing developments across occasion and knitwear, such as “chalk dust” jacquard fil coupé gray coat and dress with hand-cut fringe or a strapless dress covered in a mosaic collage layered hand-cut, individually placed cotton and silk tape yarn rectangles.
From long fringes and sheer organza layers that concave the body to rich fabric developments (as always, made in house) across soft, sophisticated wardrobing, Smith continued to elevate the brand’s look with an artist’s touch.
