Many designers have a trench coat in their oeuvre. Whether it’s a standard khaki version we’ve seen a million times or a more inventive, stylized take, the piece is often designed with everyday practicality in mind: It’s a good piece to have when it’s chilly, rainy, or both—a sophisticated alternative to a yellow rubber raincoat. But LaQuan Smith had a more specific use in mind when adding a trench to his spring 2025 collection. “My theory of a transparent trench coat always goes to the woman who, [on] a rainy night, is going to her man’s house to have makeup sex—or something like that,” Smith said in his Long Island City office and atelier the day before his show. Adding to that inspiration is an equally provocative fabric: “This is a new technique that my Italian mills have been working on. It’s a transparent horse.”
This all tracks for the Queens-born designer, as “the ultimate LaQuan Smith woman is all about glamour and sensuality and things that are quite provocative and modern,” he said. For years, this woman has mostly sought out Smith’s three top sellers: bodysuits, catsuits, and dresses—many of the sheer, cutout, skintight variety. But as he did last season, Smith built on that foundation here in an effort to dress that woman 24/7, not just when she’s en route to a party (or a late-night liaison with her lover).
“What does a LaQuan Smith woman look like during the day?” the designer asked rhetorically. She’s wearing khaki, safari-inspired separates, like a jacket with front pockets and an open, lace-up back or low-slung, wide-leg trousers paired with a bodysuit. “I’ve been obsessed with this argyle cutout concept,” Smith said of fashioning this season’s bodysuits, which come in brown and white lace. During our walkthrough, when a model emerged in a strapless bleached-denim gown with a very high slit, Smith noted, “This is my girl in the Hamptons. She’s hosting for the weekend.” She probably owns the collection’s mini denim dress, too, padded at the hips to give what Smith describes as “a BBL effect.” (The latter is a very cute dress, but the fit needs to be slightly adjusted, as it was seen on the runway with a horizontal pucker.)
Though known for his severe designs, come the night of Smith’s show, frilly organza miniskirts with matching button-up blouses seemingly floated down the runway. The airy pieces, he said the day before, were a nod to what Smith considers the ultimate luxury: sleep. Through his Samsung partnership, he’s become obsessed with tracking his through the brand’s Galaxy Ring, which he gifted each of his seated show attendees.
And about that show. It was held at a sprawling, industrial event space in Bushwick, with the soundtrack of hits like Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” as high-octane as Carine Roitfeld’s styling. (A neon ostrich-feather jacket over a navel-exposing, plunging-V black dress, anyone?) When Winnie Harlow appeared in the transparent trench, a front row that included Mary J. Blige, Ferg, Camila Cabello, Honey Balenciaga, and Lil Durk erupted in applause. The same contingent shouted words of encouragement (“You got this, girl!”) when a model’s stiletto got tangled in her lace duster.
The 50-look collection could have benefited from an edit. Menswear pieces like silk drawstring pants and a blazer with oversized lapels got lost, as did the swimwear, which was hard to discern from the bodysuits (though the pieces can be worn as both). And though Smith technically doesn’t do bridal, there was a lot of white in the collection. Not all of it felt necessary, but maybe that was part of the point? “I’m just not a basic person,” he said the day before. No one can argue with that.
