New York Fashion Week: Band of Outsiders
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Judging from the first few days of runway shows, the spring 2012 fashion season is shaping up to be a face-off between the jocks and the romantics. L.A.-based Band of Outsiders, designed by Scott Sternberg, fell into the latter camp with a collection of sweeping skirts and duster coats in washed and faded toile du jouy, delicate floral georgette garden party dresses, lace patchwork T-shirts and dip-dyed shorts as sweet as a country picnic.
Not that there weren’t things for the city, too -- a crisp white cotton shirt dress with a black leather collar and a black leather bandage skirt with a white cotton bib shirt raised the collection’s age- appropriateness a good 10 years. And a red striped linen blazer and matching overalls was a quirky chic take on a suit, as was a khaki blazer with short-sleeves turned up, and wide-legged pants with a striped waistband.
Sternberg usually shows his men’s and women’s collections together. But this summer, he was invited to show men’s at the Pitti Uomo trade show in Florence, Italy. So it was just the girls in New York on a no-frills concrete runway underneath New York’s High Line, with Solange Knowles and “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy in the front row. (Though as reported by the Fug Girls, Murphy was relegated to the second row before the PR folks wised up.)
It was a rare experience to get a really close look at the women’s clothes and Sternberg’s vision for the season, without the song and dance of some of his more theatrical presentations. The collection held up, and proved that as unlikely as it might seem, this former Hollywood talent agent really is leading the fashion pack in redefining classic, preppy dressing for the next generation.
--Booth Moore, reporting from New York
RELATED:
New York Fashion Week: Alexander Wang
New York Fashion Week: Gregory Parkinson
New York Fashion Week: Prabal Gurung
