Jade Lai's Creatures of Comfort

Photos by Alessandro Garofalo (via)

One of my favorite designers, Jade Lai, has shuttered her brand: Creatures of Comfort. This post is a tribute to one of my favorite fashion collections.

(Photos above are 15 of 34 presentations. Full show here.)

The photos from the collection above are from the Creatures of Comfort Fall 2014 Ready-to-wear collection. It's one of my favorites ever.

I love Lai's reductive design sensibility and rejection of luxury materials!

These designs feel like clothes from an adventure in which the wearer is a character. The presentation suggests to my imagination that some elements were improvised by this character due to the circumstances of their quest — a hat tumbled over the side of a bridge in pursuit and was scooped up by our hero, a sash of fabric belts up the tailor's old trousers in a pinch. 

-And speaking of tailoring, I love how some pieces fit perfectly and some do not. The dropped sleeve caps and slouched shoulder silhouettes are wonderful. The tailored jackets with padded shoulders that extend the slope and line of the shoulders down until they fall into the sleeve are so good. These choices seem to suggest that these pieces are men's garments that have been adapted by women and altered to fit their missions and lives in such a cool and unique way. It's an awesome statement.

I love the toothy appearance of the wools and fabrics. These clothes feel dependable and rugged, as if they could be patched up and used forever. This sensibility is one that I have always appreciated about Jade Lai's designs.

Lastly, her combinations of fabrics and textures is really awesome.

1. Silky or gauzy-thin fabric next to the skin with a bulky outer shell of wool. 
2. Slouchy socks, practical shoes, warm turtle-necks, high collars.
3. Layers! 

Maybe it's the climate that I live in that gives me an appreciation for the reliability and practicality of these ensembles.

Additionally, I like the styling of the models with their choppy bangs, raw skin, wet hair and wax/paint-capped fingertips. It's such a shame that there is little-to-no diversity in the casting.

I haven't been able to find runway footage of this show. I think it would be really cool to see how everything moves.