Steven Alan

If you love an unfussy, lived-in button-down, it is the piece that made the brand and the one most people start with. Steven Alan launched the now-signature Reverse Seam button-down in 1999 as part of his first ready-to-wear line, and its softly deconstructed character is exactly what its devotees pay for. It reads as premium-priced rather than cheap, so the value depends on how much you prize that singular, off-duty feel.

Two things at once. As a designer, Steven Alan, born Steven Alan Grossman in New York City, is known for relaxed ready-to-wear standards, above all the Reverse Seam button-down, plus chinos and cotton dresses in plaids, stripes and chambray. As a multi-brand retailer, his stores were the first in the U.S. to carry labels like Acne Studios, Maison Kitsuné, Engineered Garments and Mansur Gavriel.

The brand is eponymous, founded and led by Steven Alan himself, an American fashion designer from New York City. He opened his first New York retail store and showroom in 1994, producing and selling both men's and women's wear while also stocking other designers. The label still carries his name and his particular take on easy, well-detailed essentials.

The brand is sold online and in physical retail stores in New York, Japan and South Korea. After paring back to just three New York stores in 2017 and going fully online following the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven Alan returned to brick-and-mortar in 2024 with a new store on West 20th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. So you can shop the line in person again as well as on the web.

Reach for the Reverse Seam button-down. It is the cornerstone of the line Steven Alan launched in 1999, and it best captures his signature blend of crisp tailoring and casual ease. From there, his chinos and cotton dresses in colorful plaids, stripes and chambray are natural next steps if you want to build out the look.

The brand is rooted in New York City, where Steven Alan opened his first store and showroom in 1994. For the exact origin of any individual garment, check that product's own listing, since specifics can vary. What is consistent is the New York design sensibility that runs through the whole collection.

He built the brand from the retail floor up rather than the runway down. Steven Alan operated multi-brand stores selling other designers' work for years before launching his own ready-to-wear in 1999, which gives the label a curator's eye for what people actually want to wear. That dual role, designer and tastemaker-retailer, is what sets it apart.

Yes, quite a few. Alongside his own line, Steven Alan has designed collections for Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo, Keds, and a collection of khakis and sportswear for Dockers. These partnerships brought his understated, well-made aesthetic to a much wider audience than his own boutiques alone.

His work has drawn steady critical attention from outlets including British Vogue, Teen Vogue, Nylon, New York magazine, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. In 2008 he was nominated for the GQ/CFDA menswear designer of the year award, a notable industry nod for a designer with such a low-key signature.

Yes. In 2011, Women's Wear Daily reported that Steven Alan had sold a minority share to Fossil, Inc. and Shinola Detroit founder Tom Kartsotis, whose Bedrock Manufacturing Corp. was acquiring American-made fashion brands. Steven Alan split from Bedrock in 2016, so the brand has since charted its own course again.