Designer Marta Jakubowski's spring 2019 collection was built on her teenage memories of what it meant to be a woman before actually becoming one. In the show's notes, she likens the collection to a nostalgia for something she didn't ever really understand, "like watching endless episodes of Sex and the City before you knew how to smoke, or understood relations, and rewatching them now."
She also mentioned that this collection was a continuation of last season's offering, which was an ode to her mother. "It’s the way my mother liked to dress when I was a kid," Jakubowski told Vogue in February after her fall 2018 show. "That’s probably when I realized what fashion is." She added that she aims to empower women through her clothing: "I’m a woman. We are casual, but we also work. So sometimes we need clothes that are practical, chic, and feminine."
We aren't surprised, then, that she stayed true to her word. This season, Jakubowski took her commitment to women one step further in what has to be the ultimate practical item for new mothers: a breast pump. Model Valeria Garcia — who gave birth to her second child in June — was sent down the spring/summer 2019 runway wearing an Elvie Pump, the world's first silent wearable breast pump. According to the show's notes, a model mom wearing the ground-breaking pump on the catwalk is "apt for a designer who is inspired by untethered, driven women. Designed for our modern on-the-go lifestyles, this is a celebration of independent for mothers and a bold statement of freedom for females of all ages."
We've seen pregnant models and breastfeeding moms take the runway — both of which are steps towards a part of inclusivity most ignore. Jakubowski's progressive thinking is just another example of how designers can push the industry forward.