At Lafayette 148’s fall 2026 presentation, it was all about the luxury brand’s greatest hits.
“The story is set in the 1996 factory floor. It’s about the time honored in 30 years, three decades in SoHo that this brand has been around,” creative director Emily Smith, who has been with the company for 25 years, said within the brand’s Greene Street store presentation. “I really wanted to celebrate that idea of craft and refinement — the constant pursuit to refine what we do and make it better.”
In that vein, fall was all about the American brand’s archetypes of tailoring, shirting, knitwear, leatherwear and the uniform. Ditto its commitment to fabrications, quality and craft, which it continues to evolve and perfect each season. These ideas were tied together for fall in Smith’s warm, autumnal palette used throughout her balance of structure and softness, like a new relaxed wrap shirt, inspired by their signature button-down, against plush reversible shearlings and strong napa leather layers, including a bomber with hand-studded embellishments and matching pencil skirt and a laser-cut lambskin set that was engineered and fringed by hand to mimic Chantilly lace.
Smith added that while she looked back through the archive, fall was really about continuing to move forward, with touches of ‘90s references, as seen through minimalist military-style details on cozy vicuna-hued camel dressing. Furthermore, her lingerie slip layers added a hint of romance; a cute open-knit polo with a supple leather skirt mixed nostalgia with the now, and a mannish pinstripe suit was cut in soft jersey for ease, but had the appeal of corporate confidence.
Many designers in New York this season have been looking back to push forward, and her quietly confident fall lineup, Smith continued to prove the importance of luxurious wardrobing classics.
