The late sixties and early seventies saw a craze for the outdoors in America. "It was kind of a crunchy time," Steven Alan said of the era at his coed presentation today. He and his designers dove into Yosemite in the sixties, photographer Glen Denny s shots from his days as a tune-in, turn-on, drop-out climber in the Yosemite Valley. Cue the new Steven Alan man: a little natty, a little folksy, a Dylan in the desert. "It felt like a West Coast sensibility was right," Alan shrugged. So there were hiking socks and boots, turtlenecks layered under sweaters, but also high-closing, four-button wool suits like Bob used to wear. The women—"Berkeley students," Alan decided, with "an intellectual, outdoorsy look"—got floral-printed maxi dresses, knit pinafores, and a flared suit shown with a burnout-velvet blouse.
It felt like a decided step forward from Spring, when the Alan collection looked retail-ready but occasionally a little bland. That s the hazard of showing looks that are more wearable than directional—or, you might say, clothes rather than fashion. This is only Alan s second presentation, and he s starting to get a feel for the dramatics of the form.
