Steven Alan Talks Draping, Menswear, and Chicago Bars

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• [Photos: Tori Telfer]
• For his anniversary, Alan designed a tiny capsule collection, which is centered around a lovely, minimalist bottle of...laundry detergent. Yes, clean freaks, detergent was the first thing Alan ever designed, so this one's a bit of a homag
• On Friday, the Steven Alan store on Damen stocked up on George Dickel whiskey and egg sandwiches from the Eastman Egg Company to fete Steven Alan and co. I dropped by to ask Alan himself a few questions
• When did you start designing your own clothes? I opened my store in 1994 and started out as a multi-brand store, carrying mostly women's accessories and a little clothing. I became really interested in the clothing side of the business—<
• Where do you find inspiration? I find inspiration in friends who are really directionally advanced, friends whose point of views I really like. Obviously I read a lot, watch films, travel, all the usual stuff, but I'm mostly insp
• This summer, what's an ideal outfit for a Steven Alan woman? New York is so hot, so shorts, rompers, something comfortable! Cotton and linen are the two fabrics we're probably doing the most with for summer. As far as shoes, I really lik
• What's next for the Steven Alan brand? A 21st anniversary tour! No, after this we have a lot of projects back in New York. For example, we just opened a home store last year, and that's something we want to work on more. And f

Steven Alan's clothes are equal parts tomboy-chic and NYC-ready, equal parts androgynous and pretty. Alan started out in Manhattan 20 years ago, and now he's touring the country to celebrate two decades of cool, along with watch-and- leather buffs Shinola and the men's style website A Continuous Lean.

· All Steven Alan posts [Racked]
· Steven Alan [Official Site]
· A Continuous Lean [Official Site]