What can you wear at home on the couch and to a backyard dinner party? That was the question on Andrea Lieberman’s mind as she designed her spring 2021 collection. While some of her peers rushed to make sweatsuits and loungewear, she was wary of the overblown prediction that we’d never wear pants with zippers or silk dresses again. That isn’t to say she leaned to the other extreme—fantastical, “escapist” clothes. What A.L.C. has always done best is fill the gaps in between, with elevated, intentional daywear and laid-back eveningwear.
All to say, she didn’t have to change much for spring. It’s Lieberman’s belief that comfortable clothes should still feel exciting to wear, and for her, that often comes down to color. Spring’s palette was a juicy mix of rose, saffron, lemon, and rust, grounded by rich shades of camel and black, plus a few vaguely Moroccan prints.
The comfort factor came down to her mix of natural and technical fibers, like stretch linen, radzimir twill (which looks a bit like satin, but sturdier), and “crunchy cotton.” She cut them into items that could more or less go anywhere: peony utility pants you might style with flip-flops, boots, or (one day) stilettos; a flowery puffed-sleeve blouse and matching skirt to wear together or broken apart; a year-round “shacket” in taupe vegan leather; and lots of on-trend knit bras and matching cardigans. If it doesn’t seem like the right time for dresses, consider two of the collection’s standout pieces: a long-sleeved, two-tone jersey number in clay and beige and a balloon-sleeve maxi in fuchsia radzimir. Both had the makings to be your new all-seasons dress-up-or-down frock, whether you’re walking to the office (in sneakers, no doubt!) or still stuck behind your laptop at home.
