Daily Front Row

2012 February 15

There’s Something About Steven

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Steven Alan
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(NEW YORK) With his own line, his own showroom, his own stores, and his own uncanny ability to suss out the zeitgeistiest indie designers, Steven Alan remains one of fashion’s most low-profile arbiters. Now that he’s presenting at Fashion Week, however, we demanded an interview!
BY MARIA DENARDO

First things first: those reverse-seam shirts. How many have you sold at this point?
[grabs calculator] Over 100,000.

Do people think ‘Steven Alan’ is two different designers?
All the time! Either that, or they don’t believe there’s a real Steven Alan at all.  They’ll say things like, ‘You work for Steven Alan, right? What’s your name?’ I’ll say Steven, but they still don’t put it together.

When you opened the first Steven Alan store on Wooster Street in 1994, SoHo was a rough neighborhood. Ever get into any street squabbles?
Not in SoHo, but I was mugged a lot as a kid growing up in New York—everything from my entire bicycle to just my chain. I got mugged at gunpoint when I graduated college. Even my slice of pizza was mugged once!

How do you find new talent?
We typically have 10 to 20 designers approach us in a year for the showroom. For the store, we have designers approaching us on a daily basis. But I’m also a ferocious reader—I start on Tumblr—and I find brands there.

Where are you looking these days?
Paris, Scandinavia, and Japan. Japan has great brands such as Zuka, Undercover, Cosmic Wonder, Nano Universe, and United Arrows. We rep great brands here, too, like Lover and Karen Walker.

Which designers perform well?
Clare Vivier is doing extremely well right now, along with No. 6. Cardigan has received great feedback. And this is our first season with Loyal, but the reaction has been great.

What’s flying off the shelves?
Our line is the number one-selling brand with shirting and dresses as top sellers. After our brand, Isabel Marant is big.

How many staffers do you have?
About 90.

What is your management technique?
I’m not the best manager, which is why I have a president. I hire people who like to run their own things. The people that hate being micromanaged love this environment because they set their own agenda. It’s much more rewarding, and great ideas come from that.

Why aren’t more companies replicating your three-pronged approach?
Well, my accountant recommended against it! It’s much easier to just open a boutique. Your odds of success are greatly reduced if you try to do everything. We’re lucky that we have something special going on.

You sold a minority stake in April. How has that affected the company?
Luckily, I had a great investor in Tom Kartsotis, and the deal came about organically. I never went out in the market to solicit bids. People always came to us, but it never felt right. I didn’t want to sell the company. It’s always been about building the brand long-term, and Tom had no agenda or timeline to flip it. Whatever we need, we ask and he helps us with it.

How do you deal with Fashion Week?
I’m not a big fan of going to all these shows. It stresses me out, so I don’t go to very many unless we’re repping someone or a friend of mine is showing. It’s so much air kissing. People are coming up to me for interviews, and while I certainly don’t want to offend The New York Times and talk to some little blog instead…I don’t know who anyone is!

Should young designers produce shows, or host private appointments?
It depends. Some designers are made for shows, and they live for that, but there’s no reason to do a runway show if the line isn’t dramatic. Too many brands spend thousands of dollars to put on a show, and then go bust. We’re very cautious. We’ve only done presentations. We might do a virtual fashion show in the future.

Thoughts on Theyskens’ Theory?
Interesting. It was a smart move to add another layer.

Kanye?
I don’t remember seeing the whole line, but it’s not something that comes to mind as inspirational. It’s interesting that he’s pretty serious in learning about the business, so I think his approach was smart.

Thoughts on Andrew Rosen?
He’s like the Godfather of the Garment District. I admire what he’s done with a lot of companies. There aren’t that many people who are that interested in the smaller brands.

What happened to Vena Cava?
I like them a lot, and I like what they do. We spoke when they stopped the company. It’s hard to say what exactly happened, but what I can say is that when you really rely on certain stores, one direction change or shift within the store can radically impact the business.

Has the hipster movement affected your business?
Yes—especially with menswear. Guys are really into brands that represent something iconic, and we’ve been doing that since the beginning.

Are you a hipster?
No. I like farm-to-table restaurants and riding my bicycle, but I also go to bed at 10:30. And I have a baby seat in the back of my car!

What’s next for Steven Alan?
I’ve always viewed the company as neighborhood stores, but we can go pretty far with that. I’d like to have one or two stores in all the major cities and elevate our status without it feeling like a mass market brand.