Sports is probably the last thing you’d expect Apiece Apart designers Laura Cramer and Starr Hout to be inspired by. This is a brand known for arty jumpsuits, puff-sleeved knits, and floral dresses—the kind of easy, subtly feminine pieces you’d wear to brunch in Park Slope, not to Equinox. But athletic references have been sneaking into their recent collections; Spring introduced their take on a tracksuit, and for Pre-Fall, Cramer and Hout reimagined some of their greatest hits in a soft, leisurely sweatshirt material. A balloon-sleeved, ruffle-neck blouse was whipped up in sage cotton, complete with ribbed cuffs and a half-zip where the button placket used to be. The Apiece Apart woman will throw it on with jeans for a day of errands.
It wasn’t really sports that inspired those pieces (though they did say the denim shorts were a riff on a pair of Patagonia Baggies). Hout and Cramer were thinking more about their customers’ increasingly busy lives and their need for comfortable, no-brainer items that don’t look sloppy. Easier said than done! Their strength is in filling those gray areas: The multi-print cotton and habutai dresses looked casual enough to wear during the day, but they’re special enough for a wedding, too. Similarly, their best-selling canvas pants have a rugged, utilitarian vibe, but with a pinched waist and flared legs, they’re oddly sexy. The designers may have even introduced their first bona fide (but still low-key) wedding dress, or at least a dress you could wear to the rehearsal or morning-after brunch: an ivory cotton organza gown with a wide portrait neckline, fully embroidered with tonal flowers.
