Prism (Q8950)
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Prism is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Prism |
Prism is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Once upon a time, Prism used to show during New York Fashion Week just like everyone else. Times have changed a lot since then (and it’s only been a year). In fact, these days even die-hard city-centric brands such as Alexander Wang have moved off schedule. As a designer who built her label on sunglasses and swimsuits, making the switch to pre-collections only was a no-brainer for Prism’s Anna Laub. This season, she took that idea one step further, with a destination presentation in Jamaica. It’s an ambitious move for a small-business owner like Laub—gathering fashion insiders to far-flung places is usually the reserve of high-fashion houses—but one that paid off, mostly because Laub took a highly personal approach to the concept to begin with. Partnering with the owners of trendy boutique hotel theRockhouse, the British designer invited guests to experience her new collection on the beach ofSkylarkin Negril, the hotel’s sister property opening later this year.The event was attended by a select group of friends and family, including film director Zoe Cassavetes, model Paloma Elsesser, and Geraldine Chung of Los Angeles store LCD. Laub had been looking at the paintings of Paul Gauguin when she started making the collection, and that led her down an Internet rabbit hole of mid-century photography of Tahitian women as well as cinematic references from that period—a screenshot of Marlon Brando inMutiny on the Bounty, the historical drama set in the South Pacific, appeared on her mood board. Laub tends to steer clear of traditional vacation wardrobe tropes—in other words, don’t expect to find Hawaiian shirts and caftans here. Her references were barely discernible; even the most literal hothouse floral motif was only visible up close on white-on-white jacquard bikinis. There was a nice shot of tropical pink threaded throughout the more neutral color palette.Laub is a self-confessed nerd when it comes to developing textiles, often floating unexpected, fashion-forward fabrics in the world of swim. After last season’s popular washable velvet bathing suits, she’s added three-dimensional stripes to her repertoire, which had a flattering effect across low-slung bikini bottoms and tie-front tops. The textured fabric is designed to withstand chlorinated and/or salted waters, as are her other traditional technical finishes.
The eye-catching ruched cover-ups in crisp white cotton were clearly made with the same practical thinking: easily crushed up in a suitcase with no fuss or need for an iron. Like her minimalist T-shirt dresses, they’d hold their own on the sidewalks of New York in high summer, too, particularly paired with her new hybrid espadrille sandals.In the eight or so years since Laub started designing bathing suits and cover-ups, resortwear has become a real thing. The move toward experience consumerism has played a part: Millennials might be spending less on fashion in favor of adventure vacations, but they’re not taking fewer bikini selfies. And that’s good news for Prism, one of the first in the wave of independent swimwear and Resort lines that have bubbled up in the last few years. To Laub’s credit, she hasn’t succumbed to any of the impractical, social media–fueled swim trends that have been making the rounds lately, including bathing suits you can’t actually swim in (yes, this phenomenon still has legs!) and the risqué thong and French-cut look beloved of Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. Laub is committed to making suits for real women, not models. Perhaps more compelling than the bevy of gorgeous local young women she enlisted to wear Prism for her presentation this weekend, were the friends swanning around in her designs at cocktail hour. If you can get a bunch of style-conscious women of all ages, shapes, and sizes to feel comfortable around each other in bathing suits, then surely you’re doing something right.
21 June 2018
Who knew you could swim in velvet? That was my main takeaway from an appointment with Anna Laub at her Prism boutique on Chiltern Street this morning. Laub’s line offers product conceived through a prism—sorry—of vacation-worthiness. She started with sunglasses, dove into swim, and now offers what she calls “cover-ups,” in which wearers can slouch elegantly about onshore. The swimwear is interesting chiefly because the fabrications—in a crunchy silver mesh, black velvet, a zig-zag jacquard, satin-ish fabric in aubergine or putty—feel evening. Not only will a one-piece look cool by the pool, it is perfectly party-appropriate—and Laub reports that some of her clients do indeed wear Prism this way. The cover-ups included playsuits in black cotton, cropped white cotton tees with easy pants and V-neck slip-shifts in white lace-patterned cotton, and shorter versions in a wide-weave black Art Deco jacquard. One tee-pant combo came in two layers of light, irregularly meshed threads—the top layer silver, the bottom gold—to reflect the adjunct of those colors in the new-season eyewear.Despite the distraction of some pretty ponyskin-upper espadrilles, that black velvet swimsuit kept bothering me. Could you really swim in it? “It’s not going to dry as quickly as sports fabrics. But it’s functional. I’m not making crochet bikinis that fall off when you swim in them.” You learn something new every day.
18 September 2017
London-based Anna Laub got her start as a designer making glasses. Optical specs begat sunglasses, which in turn brought about well-constructed swimwear with a distinctly urbane tone. For a while, that’s what her brand, Prism, consisted of. Laub did well enough within that narrow mandate, she was shortlisted last year for the British Fashion Council/VogueDesigner Fashion Fund Award. The honor spoke both to Laub’s assiduous approach to her materials, all of which she develops with her suppliers, and her brand’s well-honed point of view.Around the same time the BFC was feting Prism, Laub decided to expand the brand into ready-to-wear. Adhering to the city-girl-goes-to-the-tropics story she’d been telling, she introduced a range of clothing meant to be worn straight from the shore to a poolside dinner at an upscale resort. Her latest collection elaborated upon that theme. The no-brainer looks here included layering pieces in pliant jersey, wispy cotton dresses, and, edging upward in tone, a long slip of wave-pattered silk fil coupé. All these items carried forward the crisp-yet-unabashedly feminine aesthetic established in the Prism swimwear, and they’ll doubtless find a broad audience. But Laub’s most clever idea was to use some of her swimwear fabrications in her clothes: A black waffle-weave and micro-houndstooth turned up in looks such as a strapless jumpsuit, an A-line romper, and a pajama-like pants and jacket set; the fabrications gave these gossamer garments a sense of durability and affirmed Laub’s intention to have them worn in tandem with her sweetheart-neckline bikini tops and leotard-esque maillots. You could easily imagine these looks becoming go-tos for sweaty days in the city, as well as steamy ones on the beach.
12 February 2017