Some designers embrace a fantastical, whimsical vision of fashion—all ball gowns, hyper-exposed midriffs, and catsuits with attached boots and gloves—but Andrea Lieberman dismisses all that. “You know, we make real clothes, and it’s something that we are incredibly proud of,” she says. “We clothes for real women that are modern, that are out there living their life.” Make no mistake—that can be just as hard as dreaming up a pantaboot.
After 14 years of A.L.C., Lieberman has a good idea of what her customers will gravitate towards. The codes of the house include luxe layering, fold-over waistbands on pants, jersey dresses, and just enough pops of color. The pieces that feel most distinctly 2022 are the soft, “mushy” in Lieberman’s words, vegan leather or shearling bags that look like clouds. Shearling is repeated as jackets, and the faux leather is used in skirts, pants, and coats. (Truly, are there any textiles that are trendier than vegan leather and shearling? I think that’s what we will, in five years, use to define the early 2020s.)
Lieberman is also comfortable with the Y2K revival, as she played a key role in defining the turn-of-the-millennium style as Jennifer Lopez’s stylist (she’s behind the Versace dress that launched Google Images). The jersey dresses in cobalt and a rust-magenta print don’t feel forced, as early 2000s references so easily can. But the collection is largely for an adult woman rather than a party girl. “There’s a chicness that comes from just being comfortable,” Lieberman says. In most of her collection, one would be.
