Lee Mathews has been in business for 20 years, an occasion marked on the runway today with a collection that reverently looked back at the house’s archives. Lucky for Mathews and her co-designer Natalia Grzybowski, those archives are stuffed with brilliant pieces that span pretty frocks, practical tailoring, and easy layering pieces. Mathews describes this season as a push-pull between her predilection for femininity—see a bright pink sheer dress with tiered seaming—and Grzybowski’s love of tailoring and tomboyish elements. Somewhere in the middle are the collection’s quirkiest pieces, like quilted full skirts, dresses with circular insets at this hips to create bulbous shapes, and cargo jackets and vests in workwear twill.
Each exit was rich with ideas and items, shirts layered under dresses with vests and coats and platform woven sandals. If that’s a lot to digest, know that in Mathews’s store it will be well merchandised, girlish and boyish pieces living in harmony. On their own, each item is simple and wearable with a teaspoon of flair, the sort of just-posh-enough stuff that has made Mathews a recent favorite of international e-tailers like Net-a-Porter and MatchesFashion.com. On this track, her next 20 years are looking pretty bright too.
