Timo Weiland Spring 2012: It’s All Happening

Timo Weiland and Alan Eckstein are those hot young designers that everyone is falling in love with. At this point, they’re starting to amass a cult following–everywhere I looked at the designers’ first-ever runway show Sunday night, I saw one of Timo and Alan‘s unmistakeable prints–on ladies from all walks of life, from Timo’s mom to upper east side socialites to cool kids like Annabelle Dexter-Jones.

In addition to girls about town, Timo and Alan have also been garnering respect from fashion industry heavyweights. They were recently chosen to participate in the exclusive CFDA Fashion Incubator program and CFDA CEO Steven Kolb was sitting in the front row, along with major editors and stylists and even Bill Cunningham.

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding Timo and Alan and that showed in the clothes, which truly came alive on the runway. Despite the fact that it was past 9pm on a long day that already had a bit of a cloud over its head, everyone found something to smile about in the fun, vibrant collection. The inspiration was “a New York artist on a surf trip,” Timo told us backstage. Specifically, Timo referenced Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat. “One of the first times that Alan and I came together was watching that movie and just getting inspired together, it was really cool.”

We also discussed that CFDA program, through which Timo and Alan will receive studio space at a reduced rent and business mentorship. “We’re excited about the mentorship, that’s gonna be a huge thing. We’re really just excited about getting in there and learning from people who have been in the business forever. We’ve learned so much in almost two years and it’s just been an adventure, and an adventure that we want to make sure ends up being a really successful business.”

This collection, their biggest yet by far, offered buyers a lot to choose from. There was a lot going on, in a good way. Besides ’90s artists, there were definite ’60s influences in the collection via digital floral prints, something the designers have been experimenting with. They could be found on cocktail dresses, button-down shirts, jackets, rompers and were particularly beautiful on silk blouses and skirts with pleats and slits up the front. There was a lot of day-to-day wear for cool kids like crop tops and rompers for girls and anoraks and jeans for boys, all punctuated with fun accessories like backwards baseball caps (a collaboration with Eugenia Kim), long necklaces with oversized plastic flowers, Warby Parker sunglasses and the designers’ first women’s footwear, a collaboration with Tsubo, a brand they have been consulting and ghost designing for for about a year.

Although Johnny Weir is more into fall/winter, we’re developing a soft spot for Timo and Alan’s spring collections because it’s where they let loose and show their fun side, which they also showed later that night at their packed after party at the Gramercy Park Hotel Terrace. Attendees included Brad Goreski and Hung‘s Thomas Jane, a new fashion week enthusiast, who told us, “I like the stuff because it’s got texture and it’s got a little bit of flash but it’s still understated ’cause I’m always looking for something that’s a little different but I don’t want to dress like a clown.” Well put.

When we left at midnight, the party was still going strong with Timo-clad cool kids mingling and imbibing. Timo and Alan had a lot to celebrate and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next season, if only to see everyone wearing this collection at the after party. Click through for pics!

**All photos via Imaxtree

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