For Fall 2011, Timo Weiland and partner, Alan Eckstein, found inspiration in the British Raj, a period of English occupation in India during the early 20th century marked not only by political turmoil but -- at least for fashion's purposes -- by silk cravates, summer-weight suiting, lavish embroideries and above all, color. Of course, the guys managed to put a young, downtown-y spin on their Age of Empires theme, updating suiting separates (for the gents) with modern, super-fitted cuts, and giving the ladies plenty of metallic jacquard and Bangal Tiger prints to keep them shimmering for a sweaty night on the town.
It's hard to believe that, just two years ago, Weiland was only presenting neckwear pieces draped over t-shirts and jeans. In fleshing out the rest of the ensemble, Weiland and Eckstein have managed to fill in some of the necessary blanks for their developing brand -- specifically, who is a Weiland woman and what does she do? Certainly, the boys still strongly identify with the hip pretty young things that helped make them famous on the New York social scene, but they have also gotten comfortable with the idea of timelessness and elegance, which came through today in trim, glen-plaid pleated trousers, dainty A-line skirts -- heck, even a few turtlenecks.
