A Friday Evening in the Timo Weiland Showroom...Concluded

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I get the feeling that Weiland's most influential muses are his friends, and he seems to design with their sensibilities in mind. When you put a Timo Weiland piece on you are not just getting dressed, you are entering his inner circle.


Part 3 of 3:
The energy in the showroom reflects that of the collection: chic yet fun, progressive yet elegant, thoughtful yet casual. It pushes the envelope without sacrificing wearability. This mix of contradictions is exactly what has made Timo Weiland so successful at a time when the recession has called fashion’s relevance into question. Adding to this is Weiland’s awareness of his customers, a trait that is rare in young designers. He wants his clothes to flatter everyone, and cites the case of a delicate garden coat in a watercolor-like print. The coat, which belongs on the shoulders of a small European principality’s princess, was designed for and named after a close friend. When she first wore the finished masterpiece, the coat’s namesake discovered that her voluptuous figure prohibited her from buttoning the coat. “It hung well on the runway models, but we’ll have to make some adjustments before it goes into commercial production,” he tells me. I get the feeling that his most influential muses are his friends, and he seems to design with their sensibilities in mind. When you put a Timo Weiland piece on you are not just getting dressed, you are entering his inner circle.

Weiland urges my friend and me to try on different pieces so he can assess the fit on two more body types. Easily persuaded, we take turns disappearing inside a large storage closet that has been transformed into a makeshift dressing room with the aid of a full length mirror hung on the inside of the door. Weiland hands us in piece after piece that he “sees” on us, and it’s hard not to feel special. After carefully pulling the samples over my head, I eagerly race out into the showroom seeking his approval. I am transformed. I balance on my tippy toes and throw my hands coolly onto my hips, twisting left and right, to complete the effect. I imagine this is what it is like be like to be famous.

Despite the initial success of their first ready-to-wear collection, Weiland and Eckstein’s work ethic has not softened. “Days were, well, still are, long,” Weiland states matter-of-factly. And as nine pm rolls around Alan pops in to say goodbye, announcing, “I’m going home to do some work. Weiland, I’ll see you early tomorrow morning.” “Yes, early.” Weiland nods in approval, and then turning to me, another garment in his hand ready for me to try on, “We have a really intense fitting tomorrow morning.” The assistants type on beside us and Weiland settles in, cracking open another beer.