Ok, I exaggerate just a leeetle when I say I've been sitting in my hotel room staring listlessly at the Hudson contemplating a 4 day boat journey back home. The one thing that was on the top of my 'To Do' list whilst I was out here was to venture into the world of label The Lake & Stars. I hesitate to simply call them a lingerie label because when I first glimpsed at their work, I immediately tried to figure out in my head how their amazing pieces could be shown off in other ways than just a cheeky bra showing from underneath a shirt/dress. Meeting the designers Maayan Ziberman and Nikki Dekker as well as reading their 'About' blurb pretty much confirmed my initial thoughts; were anyone to treat themselves to pieces by The Lake & Stars, they're not going to be hiding them away in the bedroom.
Even as I begin to speak about ideas of 'underwear as outerwear', there are already known conotations to get over... pieces overrun with lace, flesh/pastel tones, a heavy 'vintage underwear' sensibility... not that these things are bad but they just don't apply to The Lake & Stars. Speaking to Maayan and Nikki about the start of The Lake & Stars (re: the origin of their name... if only we were so poetic today about a woman's bedroom deeds...), it's clear they were out to create a sub-niche where they are technically creating lingerie but are doing so by marrying a heavy fashion context with unexpected influences that like I said makes it almost impossible not to want to make their pieces the main focus of an outfit.
Maayan and Nikki very very kindly allowed me into their apartment/studio/workspace in Park Slope to have a glimpse at their workings...
Ever so punctual, they've already begun working on S/S 11 and this is their inspiration wall for that collection... I'll leave you to decipher what will come of these images...
They explained that quite often they'll choose fabrics that aren't typical lingerie fabrics which of course is part of the appeal in their pieces as attire rather than straight forward lingerie. The 'holey' mesh on the right is meant to resemble lava... it's sort of inadvertedly appropriate no?
Maayan showed me her collection of lingerie which is partly for her own use as well as for studying in terms of construction...
I love this plastic suspender belt which were made for their first
show... and even within a relatively short period of time, the aesthetic
of The Lake & Stars has been refined from their initial desire to
add unusual materials like this PVC...
... and here again at the back of this bra from their first collection...
Other signature pieces like this jersey strip playsuit have also become more streamlined...
...evolving into this where different sheer materials are used...
...and finally becoming this where slits are made vertically in different places in the vest so that the shape of it changes as the body moves...
Some things remain though like these fascinating old-fashioned bra hooks which they have used from the very beginning and now appears on their new swimsuit pieces from their S/S 10 collection. I also love the use of the rubberised elastic which has been turned the 'wrong' way round to showcase the texture...
This citrus-y yellow/lime colour turned up a lot in the S/S 10 collection... yup and those are Maayan's very neat matching nails
I snapped a few shots of their workspace too... like this Kenyan fabric that was produced just after Michael Jackson died... courtesy of Max Osterweis who designs the label Suno... I'm hoping this does get turned into some sort of jacket...
That's Elvis Presley and Greta Garbo's signature painted on the walls by the way...
I was also fascinated by the various bits and bobs that they have picked up as inspiration objects... like these vintage braces where the cord has been placed in quite an unusual way...
Or this policeman leather waistcoat which Maayan is modelling here... a piece of clothing ready to go in itself really...
Alright so this is bit of a recap, especially for those Lake & Stars fans (and I know there's a core group of you out there...) but here's their heroine-inspired collection where their woman was being the hunter as well as being hunted... it's interesting that the collections are conceived by first coming up with the concept of the lookbook, together with the photographer Tom Hines who shoots all of their images...
And to recap further, some of you will have seen their first collaboration entitled 'Double in Brass' for Urban Outfitters which is now available on both the US and UK sites...
I also snapped these inspiration images for their A/W 10-11 collection which is done and dusted now...
In a different direction for the season, the collection takes a raunchier turn, and even then, they still articulate 'sex' in their own way...
I'm loving the tie dye mesh teddy on the right that to me just needs a super thin grey jersey tee underneath as well as a long sheer skirt over it...
I had to throw in the name for these 'bum-less' tights... the girls termed them 'Moonlanding' stockings... clearly I know nothing about gyms because apparently that means when butts accidentally touch each other on changing room benches...
Seems sort of odd to end the post with a tush on the carpet seeing as The Lake & Stars isn't necessarily about revealing copious amounts of flesh but I guess that only makes me more intrigued to see what they have in store for S/S 11 and what turn they will take next, so long as I see a ton of layering and showing-off potential...
