The Edition

By: Isiah Magsino

In 1996, the contemporary womenswear brand Lafayette 148 would debut into the fashion world from the cobbled streets of SoHo. Founded by Deirdre Quinn, Shun Yen Siu, and Ida Siu, the brand drew inspiration from the neighborhood’s art world renaissance propelled by up-and-coming galleries and artist loft studios. As years went by, their store locations shifted exclusively to the Upper East Side. That is, until Wednesday night.

Creative director Emily Smith teamed up with landscape artist Lily Kwong to welcome friends of the brand back, where it all began just in time for the brand’s 25th anniversary. “My background is in the arts; the brand’s start was influenced by the arts. It was only natural that we would make our way back.” Smith begins to explain. “And this new store is the beginning of ushering the label into its new age.”

Designed by architect William Sofield, the new Lafayette flagship store reads like an art gallery on the outside: little to no embellishments with an air of allure and mystery. On the inside, one is immediately transported into a chic greenery-filled world.

The night’s guests, who donned Lafayette 148 silk blazers, were met with vegan hor d’oeuvres and delightful cinnamon cocktails. There were fluffy green fur shoes and cashmere sweaters on display in light-wooded shelves with petite vases of flowers placed in between. A flurry of flashing lights from photographs illuminated both the tall grassy installations by Kwong and the glittering jewelry encased nearby.

For dinner, select guests were personally assigned a handsome, well-suited gentleman to be escorted down the street to The Mercer Kitchen (mine was a 6’2” Harvard Grad student from South Africa). There, they closed the evening with a three-course meal within the sleek confines of the restaurant’s lower level. As Smith mentioned before, the new store marks a new beginning—per the chic dinner, it’s obvious that it is off to a fabulous start.