And with that, Scott Sternberger leaves Band of Outsider, the all-too-cool brand he founded back in 2004. Although the future of the brand is unclear, the fact is Band of Outsiders has already laid of staff members, their FW15 orders to retailers have been cancelled, and their store is closing within a week. The end of the brand is inevitable.
The news is disheartening. To understand you have to travel back in time to 2004, The OC and That 70s Show were still on TV, Franz Ferdinand had just released their self-title album, Coachella was still only two days long, YouTube was not yet developed and (The) Facebook had just launched. The “indie” scene was still huge. Unlike now, the Internet didn’t raise the cream to the top – there was still a chance to feel like, well, a bit of an outsider. You would still find most of your music at record stores and you had to go into a video store to find independent movies. Only you and you friends would put in that effort. To keep in style you would visit a brick and mortar store, usually a thrift store, but if you were lucky enough you would go to a Barney’s or an Opening Ceremony, and there in the racks you would find the perfect brand, with the same excitement as that as when you found the perfect album or the perfect movie – Band of Outsiders. If you grew up in either coast of the US, you have a better understanding.
Band of Outsiders came out at the perfect time. Scott Sternberger’s lo-fi indie brand didn’t just reflect the culture it catered to, it lead it. Using a simple Polaroid camera, he photographed indie heavyweights for his campaigns, such as Jason Schwartzman and Spike Jonze. Throughout the years he eventually photographed Greta Gerwig, Frank Ocean, Michelle Williams, Donald Glover, Josh Brolin, and so many other really awesome people, and he always made them seem like the coolest person you wanted to hang out with. Band of Outsiders was a really great brand with an intimate image that served to a special group of people, those who still long for the simpler yesteryears.
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