Lafayette 148 New York Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear

Recently, Lafayette 148’s creative director Emily Smith found out that the brand’s original building—at 148 Lafayette Street—used to house a printing press before it was a garment factory. “I took it as an inspiration to build off this idea of paper and what we could do with it, and interpret it through clothing,” Smith said during an appointment at the brand’s flagship on Greene Street in SoHo. It turns out that paper is a great inspiration for clothes. A brown paper bag inspired a wrinkly linen-blend trench coat. Colored tissue paper was evident in a simple sleeveless shift made of two layers of silk, one pink and one light beige, shown with a pair of white sheer trousers, and another in shades of yellow citrine, which also picked up on the undercurrent of ’90s minimalist looks that could be seen elsewhere this past fashion week.