The Great American Hardware Store. If there was something shocking about Band of Outsiders' Fall jumping-off point, it's how long it's taken the label to get there. Designer Scott Sternberg is a master of gleeful subversion, and he works in varying shades of Americana kitsch to coolly classic effect (see his previous menswear muse: "psychedelic barbecue dad"). Band and hardware are a match made in heaven.
This season's riffs on Rockwellian mom-and-pop aesthetics ranged from the broad (a killer plywood faux-bois mack) to the more abstract (isolated cable-knit elements on a sweater designed to look like drill bits, knit caps with fully functional cargo pockets). There was plenty of that signature Sternberg cheek, too, in the mashing up of True Value and Ace Hardware logos, or the transformation of a certain tire manufacturer's name into "Bad Year." Beyond graphic goodness, Band's famed suiting was here in spades. Sternberg whipped up urbane shrunken flannel jackets and trousers that could charm even the most DIY-averse. And a hardy denim jumpsuit? That looked way too good for hanging drywall in.
