Lafayette 148 is proud to mark Women’s History Month 2024 by paying homage to the life and work of pioneering photographer and artist Martha Madigan (1950-2022). In collaboration with the artist’s daughters Claire Khodara and Grace Fuller Marroquin, the brand is launching an exclusive capsule collection and exhibition featuring her iconic works which explore natural art techniques to depict the ephemeral beauty of nature.

Martha Madigan’s acclaimed and widely exhibited art practice began in the 1970s when her experimental approach to photography and image-making saw her adopt a camera-less photographic process. Using Cyanotype coated paper, sunlight, and often botanical objects placed on the paper, Madigan created exquisitely poetic forms silhouetted by light. ‘The radiance of the sun as the essence of creation becomes a direct experience within the work,’ the artist once explained. ‘The sun reveals the truth of human nature – that work we seek dwells quietly within the core of our beings.’

For Lafayette 148 Creative Director Emily Smith and her design team, Martha Madigan’s work and philosophy surrounding nature has been a key source of inspiration towards the brand’s recent and forthcoming collections, in particular the exploration of natural art techniques such as Eco Printing and Cyanotype for applying botanical print motifs to garments.

In this latest expression of Lafayette 148’s longstanding commitment to the arts, and in particular women artists, Emily Smith has designed an exclusive and limited-edition Martha Madigan x Lafayette 148 Capsule Collection, comprising of a pajama inspired set and scarf, crafted using finest Italian silk twill, and a kaftan in semi-sheer voile – featuring one of Martha’s iconic, flora-infused prints. By marrying Martha’s uniquely soulful approach to capturing the essence of life with the expert hand-skills of Lafayette 148’s Brooklyn-based atelier, the resulting collection is testament to the power of mother nature, and the deeply human values embedded in all artistic endeavors.

Fittingly, the Martha Madigan Capsule Collection – Lafayette 148’s first true collaboration with the estate of a significant artist – launches on March 8, International Women’s Day. It is available to purchase exclusively during Women’s History Month at Lafayette 148’s Greene Street, Madison Avenue and King of Prussia boutiques, as well as online. 20% of the capsule collection’s sales will be donated to the Martha Madigan Foundation, providing funds for art education.

From March 13 through April 13, Lafayette 148 will exhibit a curated selection of Martha Madigan’s works – including large banner-format archival prints on silk from solar photograms – at the 59 Greene Street New York flagship. A private vernissage and VIP cocktail party event will take place on March 13 at the Greene Street flagship. Lafayette 148 Creative Director Emily Smith co-hosts the event alongside Martha Madigan’s two daughters – themselves the subjects of many of Martha Madigan’s photographic works, and both accomplished creatives in their own right – Claire Khodara, recording artist, autism advocate and founder of talent agency STARROCK Productions, and Grace Fuller Marroquin, landscape designer and former fashion and jewelry editor.

Lafayette 148 Creative Director Emily Smith: “I’m so thrilled to have had this opportunity to collaborate with Grace and Claire in honoring their mother’s extraordinary life and pioneering artistic practice. Martha Madigan once said of her work that it ‘reflects the passages of life, seeking not an understanding of time, but rather an experience of the sacred presence within it.’ My own guiding light while creating this collection was the thought of introducing more women to Martha’s beautiful depictions of nature, and through wearing the pieces we’ve designed using her prints, adding their own presence and their own passage of time to what is already an important and inspiring artistic legacy.”

Claire Khodara and Grace Fuller Marroquin: “Our mother saw beauty in every corner, in every inch of the world. She was deeply connected to nature, and, as she would always say, nature is the greatest teacher. That’s why she worked so much with the natural world, with plants, and why she was such a pioneer in photographic arts. She made a mark, and so we feel a deep sense of devotion to continuing her legacy and spreading her love and light. To collaborate with Lafayette 148 is a beautiful expression of this.”