It’s not called Creatures of Comfort for nothing. At a time when we’re experiencing athleisure exhaustion, Jade Lai’s practical, no-frills clothing is the chic, refreshing antithesis to It girl-beloved tracksuit. Lai’s garments are both cool and wearable for day and night, and this season she’s really upped her game. At the downtown New York label, Resort 2018 looks like something out of a film noir from the 1920s, one that might have been directed by Sofia Coppola if she were alive back then. In fact, Lai was initially inspired by a ’20s beach pajama set that she acquired during one of her random vintage fashion hauls. From there, the designer expanded her references to include photographs of the Amish in their traditional garb, as well as black and white images of women in utilitarian jumpsuits and jazz age getups.
Loosely fitting sailor dresses and drop-waist silhouettes were the most obvious tie-ins to her old school pj’s. There were also workmen’s jumpsuits, wide-leg jeans, and knits made of lovely, light, Japanese yarn. Micro-floral prints and smocking gave way to the notion of the pastoral but her most intriguing pieces were the pleated separates. Sculptural, off-the-shoulder tops printed with the aforementioned teeny tiny blossoms were detailed with elastic at the waist to give more of a formfitting—yet still breathable—shape. Paired with matching cropped pants, the head-to-toe look was one of Lai’s most charming of recent seasons. It’s easy dressing, as the designer likes to say, but really, as the Resort lineup proves, Creatures of Comfort has more to offer than mere effortlessness.
