While half of our team is in Toronto covering the Film Festival, our fashion director Liz McClean and her team have been busy making the rounds at New York Fashion Week. Since we aren’t exactly a “shopping” magazine, we’re less concerned about the top trends of the season or the celebrities wearing them. Instead, we’ve got our eye on the talented crop of designers behind the clothing, and the way they spin their inspirations into a cohesive collection. These are the designers who bring new ideas to the table, without ever wavering too far from the foundations and principles of strong, classic, design — something we aspire to do here every day at Corduroy as well!
Read our reviews and see photos from some of our favorite shows from the past few days, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
The invites have started arriving for the shows and presentations taking place during New York Fashion Week and this year, more designers have opted for email invitations and “save the dates” over physical invites in the mail. While we are always a fan of snail mail, this e-invite from Band of Outsiders caught our eye today. As we’ve told you before, Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg is a big polaroid fan, so it’s fitting that the invite for the LA-based label’s presentation takes the form of a vintage polaroid picture. We also love that the info is displayed on the marquee — a great touch. So, what shows are you looking forward to attending or reading about during New York Fashion Week? What do you think of the move to e-vites over actual paper invites? Post your comments below…
For his spring/summer presentation, Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg turned Milk Studios into a California beach party, complete with mounds of sand, a tidal wave backdrop and even model airplanes. It was an elaborate set-up for his new men’s collection and BOY by Band of Outsiders women’s collection, inspired this season by 1970s Malibu and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson’s solo album “Pacific Ocean Blue.”
The influences were seen in both collections, with cuffed khakis, boat-neck sweaters and shrunken blazers for women, and light tuxedo suiting, chambray shirts and madras prints for the guys. The look for women was loose and relaxed (think pleated drawstring dresses and oversized boyfriend shirts), while the men sported trimmer silhouettes with subtle details like silk trim on the blazers, and inside-out shirts and polos. Band of Outsiders’ footwear partnership with Sperry also continues for spring/summer, with reconstructed penny loafers and suede/nylon boat shoes and chukkas (The women’s shoes were made by — get this — Manolo Blahnik, especially for the collection).
We love Band of Outsiders for being hip without being trendy, and Sternberg has a way of taking classic pieces and updating them with modern, unique touches that make them refreshing to see and wear. In fact, we saw more than a few pieces that we wanted in our closet. And judging by the huge turnout for the presentation (celebs like Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman included), we can safely assume that the clothes will be in many other closets this season as well.
We took our FLIP camera with us to fashion week this year. Check out video clips we shot of the models hanging out at the Band of Outsiders presentation below:
The Jen Kao show at Mac and Milk ended around 6:15pm last night, just as the drinks and revelry began to flow up and down Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District. We walked past a huge grill being set up outside Stella McCartney, though sadly, we didn’t stay for what we assume was a scrumptious barbecue. Instead, we made our way to Steven Alan’s store on Franklin Street for drinks before heading up to SoHo to join the crowds of people that were in line to get into Opening Ceremony (photo above).
Refreshment stands and an ice-cream truck kept people hydrated while they waited to browse the limited edition items inside the store and the designer-duds from Rodarte, Band of Outsiders and Alexander Wang being sold outside from the back of vintage pickup trucks. We picked up a couple ties from Band of Outsiders — a relative steal for $40 — then hung out inside where we caught up with our friend Hyden Yoo, and also watched as the crowds swarmed designers Philip Lim and Alex Wang (who arrived separately and stayed for less then ten minutes each).
The rest of the night was spent walking around SoHo, making careful note of the long lines at Bathing Ape (where Pharrell was working the cash register) and Intermix (which had a slew of celebs drop by, including Rihanna, Sienna Miller and Anna Wintour). We also stopped by Bloomingdale’s SoHo, though we later found out the big party was at the store’s flagship location on 59th Street, where Gwen Stefani held court amidst a host of other celebrities and designers. After a couple more stops — for more drinks and finger foods — we called it a night just before midnight. Still, the streets were buzzing and full of eager shoppers and fashion lovers alike even at that late hour. Whether the event helped to rejuvenate the city’s sagging retail economy remains to be seen, but at least it brought a level of fun and community back to fashion — and shopping in New York.
We stopped by the Band of Outsiders studio when we were in L.A. earlier this summer and spent some time chatting with founder/designer Scott Sternberg (who is quickly becoming a bit of a personal style hero for me with his line of classic, perfectly-cut shirts and suits). During a quick tour around his office, we couldn’t help but notice the collection of vintage polaroid cameras that lined his shelf. As we here at Corduroy make it a point to take a polaroid of all the celebrities we interview, it was with some intrigue and excitement that we discovered Sternberg’s shared passion for the instant film camera. What began as a quick meet-and-greet to check out the label’s latest collection, turned into a lengthy conversation about the joy and unique qualities of polaroid film and the pangs of nostalgia we’re feeling now that the film and camera have been discontinued. It wasn’t long before Sternberg had picked up his camera to take a picture of us… and we happily reciprocated.
Having learned about his love for polaroids, we were stoked to see Sternberg’s vision come to life in Band of Outsiders’ latest lookbook, starring Jason Schwartzman. The actor-musician was photographed on Chung King Road in L.A.’s Chinatown, in a series of polaroids wearing clothing from Band’s fall 2009 collection. Schwartzman’s quirkiness gives a nice balance to the new looks, which range from double breasted blazers and penny loafers to wool flannel trousers and — what do you know — a structured corduroy jacket. Turns out we have more than a love of polaroids in common.
Check out a couple photos from Jason Schwartzman’s Band of Outsiders campaign below and see more images HERE. Then check out Corduroy’s celebrity polaroids (taken at the end of all our photoshoots) by clicking over to our gallery.
