Lafayette 148 Celebrates Mother’s Day 2019 with a Panel Discussion Led By Unordinary Women

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Lafayette 148 hosted a panel discussion last night for its #UnordinaryWomen advertising campaign at its showroom in New York. Here, the womenswear brand gathered a coterie of empowered women who are leaders in respective fields. The lineup included Lauri Freedman, the head of product development for the Whitney Museum; model Veronica Webb; Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week; Stella Abrera, a prima ballerina with the American Ballet Theater; Anjali Kumar, the co-founder of the Justice Department and nine others who were on hand to discuss how they’ve navigated their careers.

“I was very taken back by being asked to be a part of this,” says Freedman. “I’m not an influencer. I’m a mom who went back to work. I’m a real woman, and the fact that they found me unordinary was very touching. I was very moved by it.”

Indeed, the idea of showcasing female empowerment has been used as a marketing tactic for many brands in the last several years. With the #TimesUp movement being a cause championed on social media and many publications (and rightfully so), many have jumped on the bandwagon, enacating campaigns that promote female solidarity. But for all the women present at the panel discussion, Lafayette 148 is doing it for the right reasons—and not just as publicity ploy. “This is a company that has been doing this as part of its ethos since day one,” says Freedman. “This is a company that’s had strong women in leadership positions. This is what this company is.”

With its designs, Lafayette 148 has always sought to appeal to women of all sizes, offering streamlined pieces that range from size 0 to 18. And though it is common practice for contemporary labels to offer apparel in this spectrum, few have had the same staying power or have accrued the same kind of loyalty. To whit, for over two decades, the brand has furthered feminist ideals that have only lately piqued the interest of the general public.

To highlight this point, Lafayette 148 will donate $10 to She’s the First—a non-profit organization that supports girls from across the globe to be the first in their families to graduate high school —for every Instagram post that uses the hashtag #UnordinaryWomen and the tag @lafayette148ny.