Someone in a room somewhere made a very, very good decision around the Steven Alan line. Some creative director or team of designers realized that the world is starved for good storytelling. They also realized that there is a certain backlash to blatant advertising techniques that fueled our disposable culture in the last century.

How then would someone tell the story of a still disposable product, in the 21st century?

Steven Alan’s spring collection video for 2010 hits so close to the mark that it is possibly a reflection of an emergent culture, applied to the ficklest of industries.

This short film which showcases the spring collection for this year is much more than a brand teaser. Beyond the storyline it throws away years of fashion convention. Real people are used with little makeup, it is not highly edited material or hyper-realistic. In fact the models chosen look like my neighbors, classmates, and friends. Immediately I trust this brand.

The portion of the film that made me realize that something special was happening is the arm wrestle. I absolutely love when she says “take me seriously, take this seriously.” Are they a new couple? Have they been married for 5 years? Are they even together?

In the absence of the blatant fashion marketing one is able to see how the clothing lives, how it exists between human relationships, and ultimately that the CEO of Steven Alan is not trying to make you buy anything at all. He just says, “hey look these people are wearing this.”

Steven Alan