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For over 20 years, Lee Mathews has dressed the discerning Australian woman in a premium lifestyle uniform. Be it swishes of painterly print, perfectly stacked ruffles, gathered silk hems, deft drawstrings or crisp cottons, Mathews made resort wear an art form – long before the linen-peddling, straw-touting kids of today.
But it seems the perfect lifestyle wardrobe was not enough. This month, Mathews launches LM Workroom, a range of thoughtfully conceived, functional pieces to complement the brand’s existing seasonal mainline collections. With a focus on refined tailoring, enduring silhouettes and perfect fits, the collection is, in Mathews’ own words, “something like an evolution of the first pieces the brand ever made. Cotton shirts, dresses, slips and pants – all intermixable.”
But perhaps even more profound than its sublime design is its strong sense of sustainability. Constructed from 100% organic cotton drill sourced from producers under the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Mathews says the collection is considered in its genesis. “A shift in the industry around the use of ‘best practice’ production through low water use, less toxic dyes and organic fibres where possible, has driven a shift in our own attitudes and structure around making our clothes. This is an ever-evolving process and cornerstone of the Lee Mathews business. Figuring out how to best work with mills and suppliers is a fundamental motivation.”
Every LM Workroom piece is originally designed in natural white with the ability to be washed and over-dyed after it’s made, a process which only enhances the nature of the fabric. This process is conducive to change, meaning the collection can easily be reimagined in new seasonal colours, for example, and allows the palette of previous seasons to be dyed black in order to reduce wastage through markdown. Increasing product lifecycle and removing wastage are key pillars of Lee Mathews’ approach to sustainability.
While modest in its construction, the LM Workroom collection has a distinctive aesthetic that feels innately premium. Organic cotton poplin and drill is rendered in this season’s steel, sand and neutral colour palette and nuanced with the codes of Lee’s work; that tomboyish slouch, the utilitarian finishes, the varying opacity of layered fabrications. And of course, the oversized pockets, patches and exposed seams – the kind of Lee Mathews details we’ve come to expect – and love – over the past two decades.
With the intention to be layered, the pieces are perfect for all seasons and all occasions. Like the long sleeve shirt layered underneath the apron dress, or the spliced tee dress worn over drill pants, it’s the simple things done very, very well. “I love that something so functional can also be beautiful in its own right”, concludes Mathews. Brilliant, beautiful basics to live in, LM Workroom proves hard work does pay off.
LM Workroom will be one of Lee Mathews’ most accessible collections, with prices starting from $175 AUD.
The range will be stocked in all Lee Mathews Australian stores from January 27, 2020. MATCHESFASHION will globally launch LM Workroom, followed by other international retailers including Browns, Net-a-Porter and Beams Japan.
