For the last few years Lafayette 148 has been involved in supporting the restoration of an early 18th-century oil painting, Virgin in Prayer, by the Venetian painter Giulia Lama, through the Save Venice foundation. The painting became the inspiration for the resort collection, although in typical fashion for creative director Emily Smith and her team, this meant exploring and experimenting with aspects not only of the painting but the culture surrounding it.
“Because the painting was made in Venice in the Baroque period, you’ll see touches of Baroque influence throughout,” she said at an appointment in her Brooklyn Navy Yard showroom, showing off the tiny pearls surreptitiously embroidered in the pleats of a breezy white skirt, the lace details on tailored separates, and the latticework on a knitted tunic with a fringed hem. “We’re a New York minimalist brand, so having these contrasts is in itself an ornate concept.”
Metallic floral jacquards in colors that fluctuated from a kind of oxidized mustard to silver were meant to evoke the patina that builds on paintings over time—and the subsequent brightness that is uncovered during a restoration process. On a boatneck vest and “ballgown” skirt that ended right above the ankle, it was a modern, louche take on black tie dressing. An oversized donegal wool jacket that had specs of silver woven throughout was an especially cool way to make the metallic story suitable for every day.
Elsewhere, a plissé short sleeve tunic and matching trousers in a shade of blue lifted directly from the painting accidentally evoked Venice’s many lagoons. Smith’s take on a painter’s uniform—a white button-down and off-white jeans artfully covered in paint splotches—was a funky way to ground the collection. Although it was another white button-down, with a double portrait collar that carried over to the back, that was the low-key star of the collection. One of the best pieces in the lineup, not shot for the lookbook unfortunately, was a quilted and embroidered tight-fitting velvet jacket with a crew neck, in a “Lido Blue” that embodied the season’s influence—it had just the right hint of the costume of the era, and seemed equally suited to be worn with jeans or paired with its matching dress. In other words, well suited for a woman’s life.