For spring 2025, Lafayette 148’s Emily Smith took us inside an artist’s studio. “Spring is synonymous with new beginnings, and drawing is sort of the birth of every creative thing,” she explained at the presentation held in a Manhattan loft. The Lafayette 148 team had zeroed in specifically on the act of figure drawing with charcoal; the sinuous style lines that are first laid down on paper became fringe details across the bodice of a simple long-sleeve maxidress; the dust that comes off a charcoal pencil inspired a subtle curvilinear jacquard pattern; and most importantly, the smudges created when a hand brushes against a drawing were turned into a spectacular print on a suit and trench coat. What made the latter so special was that the print was specifically placed on the garment; big swipes of color—jutting across buttonholes on the bottom of a tuxedo jacket worn with matching pajama pants or wrapping around the trench—were made without any side seams so that the swooping lines would remain unbroken.
Other inspiration came from the beautiful chaos that exists inside a studio. The half-finished drawings and inspiration images tacked on the walls were the basis for a cream knit sweater with hand-knitted embellished flaps and a simple A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline covered in small squares of fabric, like a mosaic, in shades of beige, white, blue, orange, and yellow. The color palette was subdued: a pale chalk yellow and a shade of blue borrowed from charcoal paper. Another highlight in the collection was a long jacquard dress with a textured fil coupé in a shade of pencil gray and chalk yellow that was meant to emulate charcoal dust but mostly had really enchanting textural appeal.
