Band of Outsiders is back, but it’s not the same as it was — sort of like the friend who takes a gap year in Europe and returns with a new accent. After the Los Angeles-based label shuttered last spring, its owner, the Belgian-based CLCC SA, tapped a trio of Antwerp-based Scandinavian designers — Niklaus Hodel, Matthias Weber and Florian Feder, whose collective experiences include stints at Dries Van Noten, Louis Vuitton and H&M — to take over the creative direction. Founder Scott Sternberg is no longer involved.
Hodel, Weber and Feder said they took an “outsider” approach to their runway casting, imagining a diverse assortment of graduates — misfits, loners, nerdy types, cool kids — united by their uniforms. Describing the vision for those uniforms, Hodel said: “It’s a bit prep, a bit varsity, but it’s not as suited up as it used to be. We reimagined the suiting in a very comfortable way, as we would wear a suit, because normally, we don’t really wear suits. With suiting being a big part of the brand and its heritage, we felt like we had to do suiting the way that we would want to wear it: dressed up, but still comfortable.”
The collection’s opening look sent the message loud and clear — gone was the shrunken suiting for which the cult label was known. Instead, the trio sent out an oversize double-breasted gray jacket with coordinating trousers decorated with a red athletic stripe, conveying a more undone sensibility with looser proportions and a hint of street. Ath-leisure references were worked throughout the collection via snap-button track pants, logoed letterman jackets, jerseys, hooded parkas and mesh basketball shorts emblazoned with the word “Somebodies.” Plaid jackets and shirting were worn loose, tied around the waist or hanging off the shoulder and paired with baggy patchwork denim or jogging pants for a more relaxed take on prep. “It’s not a unisex collection, but the sportswear inspirations are gender-less,” Hodel said.
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As for the men’s wear, the team took a similarly casual approach, leaving the ultraskinny tailoring behind. Yes, some of the collegiate fashion references from the Sternberg era were still present, but updated here in new silhouettes, as in a heritage varsity oversize jacket and V-neck sweater or a slouchy nylon track suit. The use of lace on shirting and other layering elements hinted toward a more European sensibility. Yet, for a brand that came of age celebrating West Coast geek-chic, this new chapter might take some time to get use to.