For Oldham, a Different Kind of Trunk Show
From Seventh Avenue to Detroit may seem like a step down for one-time fashion darling Todd Oldham, but there was the 39-year-old providing design commentary at the Detroit Auto Show this week for Carpoint.com.
It was his first under-the-hood experience, but car shows aren’t so different from fashion shows, said Oldham, who before closing his business in 1998 wowed editors and celebrities alike with eclectic collections that included dresses made from antique drapery fabric and Aztec-print evening suits.
“The roll-outs of new models have been as extreme as any runway show,” explained Oldham, who is arguably as famous for his three-year stint on MTV’s “House of Style” as for his now-defunct ready-to-wear line. In one dramatic unveiling, for example, the Liberty Jeep rolled down a steep platform made to look like a broken road with boulders, waterfalls and all. This, after a poetic introduction by writer Ken Kesey.
The designer described concept cars, vehicles not currently in production but on display in their early design stages, as the “couture of the car world.” Oldham, who drives a “giant soccer mom” Ford Expedition at home in New York City, was fascinated by the auto makers’ concept mini-cars. They are similar to the energy- and space-efficient, low-cost commuter cars already in use in parts of Europe and Asia. “I can’t see them in the suburbs, but in urban areas they will be great.”
He observed that car designers, like fashion designers, are obsessed with retro. Volkswagen, emboldened with the success of the New Beetle, is revisiting the 1960s with its new Microbus, and Nissan, the 1970s with its new Z model, a modern-day muscle car. Even the station wagon has reared its “ugly head,” he said.
Though fashion parallels easily roll off Oldham’s tongue, he said he’d never go back to producing his designer collection, which he abandoned after nine years because “making a sweater for $3,000 didn’t seem like a very modern thing to do.” He prefers to shop at Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
Today, he continues to design for his inexpensively priced, licensed jeans line and has even recycled looks from his past designer collections for it.
In the 1990s, Oldham was emblematic of a younger generation of up-and-coming American designers that included Isaac Mizrahi, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Tom Ford. When he closed his business, many in the fashion media proclaimed it was a sign that small design houses wouldn’t hack it in the emerging world of mega fashion conglomerates such as Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) and Gucci Group.
“That was a nasty Women’s Wear [Daily] spin,” he said. “What happened was that Isaac Mizrahi went out of business the same time as me and it looked like a tidal wave of despair was falling over the industry.”
Oldham believes industry conglomeration is “spooky,’ and has spawned “homogenous design.” He wants to decorate the world, and he has.
In the last two years, he has designed hip interiors for The Hotel in South Beach, Fla., sexed up “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with costumes for revivals in L.A. and on Broadway, and cut a swath in cyberspace with https://www.toddoldham.com, a fashion Web site that garnered him a Webby award. All the while, he’s been doing freelance photography for US Weekly, Teen People, Interview and Black Book.
He’s especially proud of a shoot he did with “Roswell” sweethearts Brendan Fehr and Majandra Delfino for February’s Teen People, in which all the sets were made out of candy.
Next, he’s setting out to conquer Hollywood. Oldham is on the verge of signing a deal to produce a television project. He wouldn’t elaborate but said he would like to direct, but probably not write it. “Writing doesn’t come easily to me, conceptualizing comes easy,” he said.
He is also hoping to design interiors for more hotel, resort and spa properties, including some on the West Coast. Not bad for a guy from Corpus Christi, Texas, who has no formal design or fashion training. But doesn’t he ever feel like his life is in overdrive?
“It actually all feels quite simple,” he said. “I’d be nauseated if I had to do one thing.”
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I know what you mean, Todd. SoCal Confidential has been a great ride, what with dancing with Puffy, fighting the I Love You viruses and enduring smelly mud baths and coming-of-age Phish concerts. But fashion is where my heart is and I have the opportunity to focus full time at The Times on the subject. So the column ends today. Thanks for reading.
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Booth Moore can be e-mailed at booth.moore@latimes.com
