Band of Outsiders Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Band of Outsiders

NEW YORK, September 11, 2010

By Tim Blanks

Scott Sternberg is breeding a fashion family. First came Band of Outsiders Man, his nostalgic but twisted take on preppy dressing. It was followed a couple of years ago by Boy, a tomboy-worthy collection of menswear-inspired clothes for women. Today, Sternberg celebrated his new arrival, Girl, with a wide-ranging presentation that underscored what a subtle but undeniable force he has become in American fashion.

Girl is unabashed femininity. "Sugar and spice and all things nice," said Sternberg. He claimed that after dressing men and tomboys, he just wanted to drape a dress for a woman. There was a classically Grecian feel to that drape, a little bit Isadora Duncan at the Acropolis. The dropped-waist plissé dress in a sheer floral fabric also had a touch of the Doras. But Girl's eveningwear was sleekly structured: A white shawl-collared cutaway jacket over a sheer white shirt and pleated skirt and a sleeveless tuxedo dress were standouts. They were sophisticated enough to make it seem unlikely that these Girls would ever have much to do with Sternberg's Men, who are, at best, a band of dressed-up college boys. How much happier those guys would be with a girl dressed in Band's Boy: The plaid jacket and shirt with chinos and the shirt in the tiny camo print paired with matching tie-waist shorts had an androgynously sporty verve. The designer insisted he liked the psychosexual tension between his three groupings. Still, he gave his guys a break this season by loosening up the menswear a little. A suede blouson trimmed in navy and red or an olive green military shirt with matching sweatshorts verged on butch for Band. Sternberg also injected a note of the surreal—pajamas under a blazer, for instance—that felt more like film than fashion.

Perhaps that's why guest Baz Luhrmann, who knows from kinetics, noted that, when the line between art, fashion, film, and music is blurred as successfully as it is in Sternberg's presentations, it would be delicious to take it up a notch further and add a little movement. Make the showroom dummies come alive, in other words. The music in question was, by the way, a collection of incidental soundtrack pieces by Thomas Newman, a typically off-kilter but entrancing Sternberg touch.

See all from Band of Outsiders › Timeline

A.F. Vandevorst	Acne	ADAM
A Détacher	Akris	Alberta Ferretti
Albino	Alexander McQueen	Alexander Wang
Alexandre Herchcovitch	Alexis Mabille	Alice + Olivia
Altuzarra	Andrew Gn	Anna Sui
Ann Demeulemeester	Anne Valérie Hash	Antonio Berardi
Antonio Marras	Aquilano.Rimondi	Araks
Azzaro

Badgley Mischka	Balenciaga	Bally
Balmain	Banana Republic	Band of Outsiders
Barbara Bui	Barbara Tfank	Basso & Brooke
BCBG Max Azria	Behnaz Sarafpour	Bensoni
Betsey Johnson	Betty Jackson	Bibhu Mohapatra
Bill Blass	Blumarine	Bottega Veneta
Brioni	Burberry Prorsum

Cacharel	Calvin Klein Collection	Carlos Miele
Carolina Herrera	Carven	Celine
Cerruti	Chado Ralph Rucci	Chalayan
Chanel	Charles Anastase	Charlotte Ronson
Chloé	Chris Benz	Christian Cota
Christian Dior	Christian Siriano	Christopher Kane
Clements Ribeiro	Collette Dinnigan	Comme des Garçons
Commuun	Costello Tagliapietra	Costume National
Cushnie et Ochs	Custo Barcelona	Cynthia Rowley
Cynthia Steffe

D&G	Damir Doma	Davidelfin
David Koma	Dennis Basso	Derek Lam
Diane von Furstenberg	Diesel Black Gold	DKNY
Dolce & Gabbana	Donna Karan	Doo.Ri
Douglas Hannant	Dries Van Noten	Dsquared²
Duro Olowu

Edun	Elie Saab	Elie Tahari
Elise Øverland	Emanuel Ungaro	Emilio de la Morena
Emilio Pucci	Emporio Armani	Erdem
Erin Fetherston	Etro