#NYFW

Band of Outsiders Takes A Hike

Native Angelenos know the mythical significance of the Hollywood sign. It looms over the entire city on a steep, unpopulated hill -- almost impossible to get to by car or foot -- and represents something that is always, constantly, just a little out of reach.

For his Spring/ Summer 2014 show, L.A-based designer Scott Sternberg took audiences on a trip behind the sign, which felt a little bit like a ticket to Neverland. His set consisted of a recreation of the structure from behind, with ribbons of traffic projected on screens visible down below.

The collection felt directly sourced from Sternberg's life in Los Angeles -- but it didn't fall victim to typical L.A. fashion cliches. There was a sense of ease in the loose white shirt-dresses, billowing skirts, and roomy pajama pants. The shoes were a highlight: flat, cushiony, gladiator-esque sandals tied with what appeared to be climbing rope, worn over thick black socks. There were also ponchos that evoked the outdoors.

Sternberg described the collection as "Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye Gone Sporty" -- or, as one editor joked after the show, "aprés-hike chic." "I was thinking of sport, something fresh, and bright, and white," he said. "I was looking at real, L.A. references." He cited the "interval training" he does with Vogue's West Coast Editor Lisa Love in Los Angeles's Griffith Park that involves sprint-hiking.

And, judging from the reaction in the crowd -- already exhausted from the week's shows -- cool shoes with a lot of padding are certainly something to look forward to for spring.

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Isabel Wilkinson

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