By Aria Hughes
Timo Weiland’s spring collection expounded on what the brand does best: create quirky pieces with a preppy twist — although the overall offering fell a bit flat. This season the team, which includes Timo Weiland, Donna Kang and Alan Eckstein, referenced classic men’s silhouettes from the Fifties and updated them with bold colors and varying textures. Combinations of cherry red, pink, kelly green and cobalt blue appeared on chevron knits, basic sweatshirts and color-blocked sweaters. The silk shirt, which was either shiny or sometimes matte, helped lend what the designers called a “casual luxe” feel to the collection.
As an ode to the brand’s early days — they started out in neckwear — Eckstein styled the certain looks with his grandfather’s knit ties. The designers grounded the vintage references with of-the-now pieces including suede biker jackets and cotton bombers.
The brand held its runway show at the Cadillac House, which is also home to the company’s Retail Lab that will be open for the next three months. This initiative is a collaboration between Cadillac and the CFDA that gives designers a space to sell their merchandise and a $75,000 grant to help support sales. Weiland, Kang and Eckstein took advantage of the opportunity by featuring a few pieces — items from their line and sunglasses by Zenni Optical — that would be available to purchase exclusively from the store right after the show.
“It’s been going really well,” Weiland said of the shop. “People have been buying and pre-ordering things.”