For some reason, work life, offices, and dress codes continue to fascinate designers. The pandemic wrought havoc on corporate America as we knew it, giving rise to endless use of Zoom and the concept of WFH, which created trends for waist-up dressing and more casual garb. Now there is a broad push to return to what was normal pre-Covid, and have staff work on-site. But non of the ordinary rules apply when it comes to Lazoschmidl Inc., an entity dreamed up by Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl for fall 2025.
At the presentation, organized like a business meeting in an office canteen with what might be described as “leave those kids alone” attitude, models wore ensembles like a black A-line minskirt with a white button-down and a tie featuring a black-and-white collage print of photos from past collections. In place of the formal pinstripe suit, the designers proposed a pajama set with the lines running horizontally rather than vertically. Elsewhere stripes clashed nicely with plaids; the jury is out on breeches—cropped pants too roomy to be capris—in part because the navy workwear pants and jeans, which had curved cut-outs over the back pockets, were so strong. Underwear, particularly briefs, is a popular way for fans to buy into the brand; that point has been made many times over and feels overstated. But the brightly colored boxers—which swept through women’s street style a few summers ago—stood out here. Why not, said Lazo, bring the shirt-and-boxer combo into the real world from Zoom?
Though the collection was titled Mistakes, Lazo and Schmidl, who recently marked a decade in fashion, have no regrets. Moreover, their measure of success isn’t that of the Dow Jones; rather they are concentrated on “emotional wealth and richness.” But not only: What really stood out this season were the collaged jeans made from studio scraps in which the five-pronged shape on the right leg is what you might think it is—a hand and arm reaching for the wearer’s “family jewels.”
