“I think the big thing here is the mentality of getting back to celebrating craft, beauty and timelessness,” Lafayette 148’s creative director Emily Smith expressed over Zoom. The collection serves as a love letter to New York — the workers and makers who built the city.
The look: A luxe, feminine riff on classic Americana workwear and artisanal crafts.
Quote of note: “We wanted to celebrate the idea of rebuilding and new beginnings — American culture, and really celebrating makers, builders, artisans and celebrating workwear. Thinking about all the immigrants who made this country,” creative director Emily Smith stated. “From railroad workers — raw denim, chore jackets.…We had so much fun shopping for vintage, going through history research and finding these typical men’s wear uniforms. There’s also a true focus on New York from the Garment and Meatpacking Districts to Chinatown, even in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where there were women welders.”
Key pieces: A standout eyelet lace patchwork quilted dress with little leather straps, emblematic of Americana quilts; denim separates evolved into a classic chore jacket with a long skirt or an oven bake raw denim suit (both with a great modern workwear feel); railroad and sailor striped layers (classic stripes, or artfully warped); leather continued to play an important role (strong in accessories and garment details, or a great white button-up shirt with matching short); a stellar, artisanal raffia striped strapless gown. Structured leather and suede styles nicely juxtaposed more feminine, plissé dresses and singular silk yarn space-dye dress.
The takeaway: The thoughtful blend of new artisanal and workwear ideas with its brand pillars worked especially well for spring. Their modern interpretation of the seasonal inspiration felt especially right within their Brooklyn Navy Yard design headquarters.
