Claire Khodara and Grace Fuller Marroquin’s Lafayette 148 Collaboration Celebrates Women—One in Particular
Last night, Lafayette 148 welcomed an artsy crowd to its Soho store on Greene Street (near to Lafayette Street, where the label first opened up shop in 1996) for a cocktail party. The hosts of the evening were sisters Claire Khodara and Grace Fuller Marroquin—and together, they introduced their just-launched collaboration with Lafayette 148, which pays tribute to their late mother, Martha Madigan. Madigan was an artist (creative genes run in the family: Khodara is a singer and musician, while Fuller Marroquin is a landscape architect) and her photographic floral prints were the inspiration for a four-piece collection dubbed the Martha Madigan x Lafayette 148 Capsule Collection.
At the cocktail party and just after a moody musical performance by Khodara, Lafayette 148’s creative director, Emily Smith, spoke of her first visit to Madigan’s studio in Philadelphia. “They [Khodara and Marroquin] had sent me some work already to look at, but being there in the moment was so inspiring—I feel so humbled to have been able to celebrate her work,” Smith said.
With the sister’s help, Smith selected a bird of paradise photograph to expand and print onto a selection of billowy, silken pieces. “It was so serendipitous because we had launched this Spring collection, which featured prints and colors that really resonated with Madigans art.”
Fuller Marroquin, who wore the Pajama set with a pair of Prada cowboy boot-esque mules, explained it’s not the first time her mother’s work appeared on textiles. “She experimented a lot; she experimented on silks and linen; that was her thing. But it was never for clothing,” she explained. Per the ensembles worn by the two sisters, it’s safe to say they did their mother proud—plus, a portion of the collection’s sales will be donated to the Martha Madigan Foundation, providing funds for art education.
By 7 p.m., the party was at its height, as guests including Beanie Feldstein, Wes Gordon, Paul Arnhold, Indre Rockefeller, and Marina Larroude enjoyed bites of caviar from Celine Yousefzadeh’s CY Kitchen—the evening’s gorgeous aubergine Calla lilies were also by Yousefzadeh—and sips of lower-proof martinis courtesy of BODY Vodka.
Khodara closed her set with a performance of “Hallelujah” in tribute to her mother—a loving way to celebrate all the extraordinary women in our lives.
Darian DiCianno/BFA.com1/16Beanie Feldstein, Emily Smith, Kathryn Gallagher
Darian DiCianno/BFA.com2/16Wes Gordon, Indre Rockefeller, Paul Arnhold
