Glamour and Glitter: BLAND

Teddy Willoughby launched his label BLAND for Spring 2009 with a presentation at Deitch Gallery. Fitting, seeing as how his perfect customer is an art gallery girl, be it curator, artist or dealer. For Fall 2009/2010, an evening presentation was held at Terrence Koh's Asia Song Society, which continued on into a week-long Pop-Up shop selling BLAND clothing and accessories. Selected friends also presented their wares, including printed tote bags and hand painted leather neck ties by Thomas Engel Hart, t-shirts by David Lindvall, art objects by Patrick Griffin, and jewelry by Guillaume Boulez.

Sticking to a black palette, Teddy plays with structure and drape often in the same silhouette. One silhouette included a tight, sexy dress complete with bra cups and underwire, attached to a loose fitting vest adjustable with drawstrings. Unexpected details like tongue rings as closures add artsy humour into the mix.

BLAND Spring 2009

BLAND Fall 2009

The best selling item of the week was the cigarette pin, which has already been carried by Colette in Paris. The accessory has also been featured in the New York Times and Paper Magazine.

BLAND Cigarette Pin

The highlight of the presentation was the 20 minute video made in collaboration with Scott Brewster. The video was filmed in the basement of Asian Song Society and then projected in the same space.

Film Stills

To elaborate this designer profile, we asked Teddy a few simple questions (from now on known as the G&G questionnaire's):

City? New York

Breakfast? i haven't eaten "breakfast" or "lunch" in a couple of weeks i normally eat my first meal around 7pm which i guess serves as lunch, and then another late night snack around 2 or 3am.

Lunch? see above

Coffee? i recently found a espresso maker in my hallway and it makes a sick cup o' joe. though on the downside it leaks an absurd amount of steam and is slightly dangerous to operate.

Dinner? soup dumplings at new yeah shanghai deluxe, in chinatown. i sing the k.d. lang song constant craving to myself while i eat them...

Drinks? i am a junior mixologist, as anyone who had a drink at my show will recognize from the "BLAND signature cocktail" (everclear and fresh squeezed orange juice). it is essential you serve it from some sort of sports cooler. there is nothing more simultaneously refreshing and invigorating.

Dancing? for me there is nothing better than dancing in your socks on a freshly polished hardwood floor. it really does wonders for my spin moves. though there are fewer and fewer venues which encourage this.

Amusement/Hobbies? i enjoy walking tours of the fine neighborhoods of lower manhattan, sewing, and I dabble in gardening, and miniature dachshund loving.

What inspires you? at the moment i am really into unmarked cargo vans, contractor bags, vacuum extrusion and injection molding, latex skin, and dada punkism.