Photos: Teng Phour for models.com
Text: Jonathan Shia

Michael Bastian has demonstrated a strong affinity for all-American sports in the designs for his collaboration with heritage brand Gant, now in its third season. His first collection drew on the locker-room styles of lacrosse, while Spring 2011 saw a slightly more polished midcentury look with unobtrusive baseball references. For Fall, Bastian hit the slopes. But the vision he presented drew from ski bums rather than Olympic athletes. The clothes were rugged and aged, more evocative of the scrappy, homey aesthetic of New England slopes than the glitter of Colorado resort towns. Bastian’s designs were cheeky updates of decades-old icons, like the puffer vest he showed in a warm orange or a sweater knit with the images of two cardinals. There were plenty of thick knits for both sexes, the better to work the layered look that dominated the collection. Spring’s grown-up and slightly more formal looks receded into the background here, with even the double-breasted blazers and floor-length skirts appearing (almost) downhill-ready. Fingerless gloves and sunglasses that looked like old racing goggles finished off the pieces, just a few of the small details that make Bastian’s work for Gant consistently charming and wearable.

1-opening image: Cory Bond
2-the presentation
3-Sonny, Chad White
4-Corey Baptiste
5-Gant’s fur hood

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