Interview with Designer Timo Weiland

“Let’s take a selfie,” squeals Kelly Killoren Bensimon excitedly as she snaps away next to Timo Weiland. Amidst the sea of well-wishers, we squeezed our way in to spend a few minutes chatting with the Timo Weiland co-designer just moments after showing his 90s grunge-inspired womenswear collection.

theFashionSpot: We loved the outerwear in the collection!

Timo Weiland: Thank you! We did more this season than ever before, so it’s great to hear that.

tFS: Outerwear aside, anything you’re particularly proud of?

TW: I think the fringe is gonna kill it.

tFS: It looked so lightweight — as did all the texture in the collection.

TW: It is. We’ve been up for the last 60 hours making sure everything is perfect.

tFS: Wow…any tips for functioning on no sleep?

TW: Don’t drink too much Red Bull! One of our interns had four cans and I was like “OK now…you gotta stop” [laughs]. I had chamomile tea this morning that actually has helped a lot.

tFS: Enough to keep you energized to see other shows or are you ready to crash?

TW: Definitely excited to see other shows! Going to check out Rachel Antonoff today. But the work never stops. After the show, we have a ton of sales appointments…there’s always work, but it’s exciting.

tFS: How does the work pre/post show compare?

TW: You should see the crazy group text messages we have leading up to the show. They go on for pages. It’s really night and day. We luckily don’t have all-nighters every day now that the show is over, but there are lots of sales appointments and meetings.

tFS: How do you deal with the stress?

TW: When I get really stressed I forget to breathe, so I try to remember how important it is to breathe. Also, I drink a lot of water and laugh — we laugh a lot.

tFS: We gotta ask about your amazing knit hats. Have you “stolen” any to wear yet?

TW: [Laughs] Couldn’t you see the guy who does Pharrell’s hats loving them?

images: Imaxtree