Lafayette 148 Introduces ‘Classic 148: The White Shirt Project’ With Celebrity Stylist Petra Flannery
Lafayette 148 has launched “Classic 148: The White Shirt Project,” a celebration of its signature icon — the perfect white shirt — with two initiatives in partnership with celebrity stylist Petra Flannery.
One is “Lettered by L148,” a white shirt custom monogramming service for Mother’s Day gifting and the second is “The White Shirt Style Guide,” a photography-and-video series shot by Sophie Elgort, which showcases the versatility of six Lafayette 148 white shirt designs, featuring three Classic 148 styles and fits from the brand’s archive and three created and crafted especially for the spring 2024 season.
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For Emily Smith, creative director of Lafayette 148, each white shirt embodies the values of the brand’s design philosophy: to transform, elevate and feminize traditional menswear sartorial codes into pieces for the modern woman.
“At Lafayette 148, our white shirts are anything but ‘basics,’ they’re rooted in craftsmanship and design — we’re constantly refining the details to achieve the perfect fit — but still relaxed and effortless. The poplin cottons we use are luxurious to touch and constructed to have longevity, so the more the shirt is worn, the softer, more sensual and more personalized it becomes. Thus, providing a beautiful ‘white canvas’ for self-expression — every occasion, style, personality and body type — for a lifetime,” said Smith.
The brand enlisted Flannery, whose high-profile clients include Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Saldana and Claire Danes, to showcase the brand’s white shirts that mirror her own personal style.
“I live in white shirts, and have always invested in multiple styles,” she said. “Whether it’s tossed over a bathing suit in the summer or layered in fall, if I have meetings or a lunch I’m dressing for, I always rely on one to feel confident. It’s such a go-to for me. This partnership is special to me because Emily’s designs for Lafayette 148 are so timeless yet modern, and the quality of the shirts really stands out for both me and my clients.”
The Lafayette 148 partnership with Flannery begins Monday and runs through Mother’s Day on May 12, with “Lettered by L148,” a complimentary custom monogramming service to accompany a selection of five white shirt styles from the Lafayette 148 archive and the spring 2024 collection. The wearer’s initials can be embroidered at the Lafayette 148 Brooklyn design atelier, in a granite, cloud or copper color, and positioned either on the front paneling or sleeve cuff of the shirt.
“I love the personal touch to monogramming,” added Flannery. “Before my Italian grandmother — my nonni — and her family made their way from Italy to California the family had a shop for linens. They monogrammed items for family and friends, and later in her life she loved giving me monogrammed clothes and stationery. She instilled in me the beauty of something made just for you, and the time taken and creativity that goes into monogramming is really a form of art.”
Simultaneously, Lafayette 148 will offer “The White Shirt Style Guide,” a photography-and-video series, styled by Flannery, and shot by Sophie Elgort. Taking the selection of six white shirt designs as the starting point — including the spring 2024 sheer-sleeve oversize, the tie-back oversize and portrait collar style and the Classic 148 oversize boyfriend in organic cotton poplin, stretch-cotton slim and straight styles — Flannery and Smith assembled a style guide to showcase the range of fits and wardrobe versatility styled with pieces across the 2024 seasonal collections.
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