The rock star ensconced at the Chateau Marmont is a time-honored type. So to complete the troika that began with—titles my own, because Band of Outsiders brings all of its observers into its L.A. orbit, and who isn't a screenwriter out there?—How Much Is That Model in the Window (Spring '13) and The Scavenger Hunt (Fall '13), for Spring '14, Scott Sternberg presented Devendra Banhart in…Amok at the Chateau. The reedy, matinee-idol-handsome folkie holed up at the hotel, wore the Spring collection, and live-streamed the whole thing one sunny day in July. The images at left are the stills from said shoot. Cut. Print.
"We create these constructs that are not natural at all," said a shrugging Sternberg, who was, famously, formerly an agent at CAA. That bit of Band prehistory comes out time and time again because Sternberg so insistently brings the cinematic spirit into the medium of fashion. (Despite the exponential rise of "fashion film," the dominant gestures of showing clothes are still mostly borrowed from theater.) Out-of-the-box presentations have become as much a part of Band of Outsiders as the clothes, which, for their part, stayed the charted course this season. The collection will always have its abbreviated suits (with shorts for Spring), styled with the boat shoes Sternberg makes with Sperry. The inspiration of the moment, the Stones' and Beatles' sixties flirtation with India, was most clearly seen in pieces like the patchwork madras robe coat and an Indian-inspired floral print. But it's Band's own kicky, prep nouveau sensibility that ultimately burns brightest. "Future Prep," Sternberg called it, pointing out the nylon strip running across a sweater, equal parts Fair Isle and guitar strap. Season after season, that larger story continues (so, for that matter, does progress on Band's first store, in Tokyo). So Spring was a sequel, of sorts. Just like Hollywood makes.
