Throughout its 108-year existence, L.L. Bean has never appeared on a runway. Until now.
The Maine company will be featured as part of designer Todd Snyder’s fall men’s wear show during New York Fashion Week, according to the New York Times.
L.L. Bean has previously worked with capital F fashion, according to the Times, and in 2018 collaborated with Maine breweries for special edition boots.
More than a decade ago, Alex Carlton — who has been considered one of the country’s best new men’s wear designers — was hired to revitalize L.L. Bean’s image, the Times reported.
“I thought putting a shawl collar on the Norwegian sweater was about as far as things could go,” Lisa Birnbach, who wrote “The Official Preppy Handbook,” told the New York Times.
“I mean, are they fashion or are they gear,” Birnbach also said.
In 2018, the company dropped its unlimited return policy, citing fraud. Later that year, L.L. Bean didn’t provide bonuses for its employees for the first time in a decade and announced job cuts. In 2019, net revenue was up 1 percent, so the outdoors company reinstated its bonuses.