sleep deprivation and stories of my bullshit youth

During fashion week we saw this amazing presentation at my friend Kathy’s gallery Deitch for a designer called BLAND. Inside were all these black garments finely sewn into these amazing looks you would never want to take off. Seriously each one was better than the last and luckily my husband shot a lot of photos. We ended up meeting Teddy, the designer, a few days later after he had a fitting with Kathy for the dress he had just finished making her. He was totally the nicest dude ever which naturally made me like his clothes even more, if that was possible. Get a glimpse below. It’s a shame you can’t see all the epic details (keep an eye on the cigarette jewelry) but I have no doubt you’ll be seeing a lot more of BLAND in the future.

BLAND S/S 09

An introduction pulled from his one sheet at the show.

“By his own volition, designer Teddy Willoughby has historically brushed off nagging social pressure to promote his highly imaginative, principally unisex collections, constructed entirely by hand from his Mott Street atelier since 2005. Having maintained a solid following of stylists, fashion editors and members of the art world set, Teddy has been fortunate to resist most outside influence, reveling in his imaginative aesthetic narratives in a virtual vacuum.

But peer pressure can be a bitch-and his talents have reached fruition.

The BLAND universe is going to change come September, when his first Fashion Week presentation is unveiled at Deitch Projects. The all-black collection- dubbed by Willoughby as “Darth Vader’s prom date”- combines weighty minimalist structure with high-tech embellishments, evoking a dark, provocative and disciplined sensibility often associated with modernist architecture and S+M.

While not exactly bondage, Teddy professes that his pieces “form the body, not that other way around.” Poking a bit of fun at that concept, Teddy has created some seemingly nonsensical pieces like an “armless” calfskin vest that, fortunately “for customers with arms,” unzips horizontally at the back.

Most of the pieces slated for his presentation are for women- including a battery of highly body-conscious dresses bearing formalist and futuristic details. Some incorporate tuxedo lapels and waistcoat like garnishes, while others reveal corsets, plastic paneling and “translucent networks of geometric structures designed to shape the body.”

Teddy insists that his clothing is mainly unisex, and certainly his cinching sweats, voluminous shorts, casual button-downs and oversize hoodies qualify. His interest in the angular and the architectural greatly compliment his sportswear-oriented pieces.

But for Fashion Week, the main focus will be women’s wear-feminine and otherwise. And it will no doubt be the cause of much excitement, as downtown notables scurry their way to Deitch Projects to see what BLAND has in store.

He will no doubt make a lasting first impression.”

Anyway, I’d seen these cigarette pins on Aaron and Kathy in the weeks beforehand and I’m so stoked to see they’re now being sold at Colette thanks to the Off, Off Bowery show! I’m thinking they will look so amazing adorning coats for winter.. especially my leather jacket.