Go Ahead, Dress Like a Preppy

LA-based designer Scott Sternberg channeled a 1960s prep school at a presentation of Band of Outsiders and Boy (his men's and women's lines, respectively) yesterday; the show has already won substantial praise from the fashion set, which included guest Kanye West. One of many small brands forgoing the runway for less expensive "presentation" shows, Sternberg showcased his Fall 2009 collections in an unusual Chinatown space, with models lounging on bare-bone mattresses, seated on a park bench, or perched next to one of the other pieces of vacant furniture that Sternberg had scattered about the room. The interior is believed to have been styled after Jean-Luc Godard's "La Chinoise" (a director from whom Sternberg borrowed the name for his men's line), which follows the political movements of a group of students circa 1967. The clothes reflected this moody intellectualism, with plenty of campus knits, over-the-knee socks, and short, pleated skirts thrown in for good measure.