Heritage Grunge: Eddie Bauer

This is not just your dad’s heritage brand. Last night at The Smile, Matt Kliegman and Carlos Quirarte hosted an intimate dinner for Eddie Bauer and its Spring 2012 collection. Downtown fashion’s finest enjoyed live music by New York’s Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra, which specializes in Nirvana covers. Nathan Laffin, Creative Director of Eddie Bauer, said Seattle vibes were in the air on purpose. “Spring was about going to the edge. And we went to the edge of the Pacific Northwest and took a walk in a rainy forest,” he said, noting “the bright bursts of the technicolor raincoasts in the middle of the mossy forest, with all the fog. ”

Many guests, upon receiving the backpack gift bag, recalled fond junior-high memories of the iconic Eddie Bauer backpack style. This one came stuffed with presents, including a slingshot, Yosemite map scarf, shoe polish, lantern, and Field Notes notebook—should the attendees get lost in downtown New York. Laffin shared his angle for sprucing the brand up. “Our handle for the season is field and slick, instead of field and stream, we’re a heritage brand and we love it and we really respect it and we also think we have to make it modern. So we made a mash-up of heritage, field and stream hunting with super technical, mountaineering, expedition, all mixed together. Really slick shiny surfaces with really big texture.”