NewYork fashion weekNEW YORK, September 12, 2010

By Matthew Schneier

Timo Weiland and his partner in design, Alan Eckstein, called their new collection A Wharf on the Baltic. If there's a competition for the season's most awkward title, I think we've found a winner. But if there's one for most improved collection, they'd take the prize there, too.

Spring was the label's strongest outing yet. The designers were thinking, Weiland said, of Bibi Andersson, the Swedish charmer and muse to Bergman and Altman, and what she might wear in her fjord-side country house. That meant little tie-front blouses and jeans with a leg-lengthening and timely flare. Scandinavian wallpaper inspired a graphic, Marimekko-ish print, which Weiland and Eckstein showed in two colors in a pile-it-all-on skirtsuit. Why wear one primary color when you can put on both?

That more-is-more mentality still requires a bit of finesse. The duo is brimming with ideas and a commendable appetite for experimentation. Their attitude has led them to some smart and unusual pieces—which are also, reportedly, hard to keep in stock. That should buy the young designers some time. There's an antic quality to their playfulness (and to their styling) that feels unrestrained. Their task for seasons to come will be to tone it down.

Fashion Brand: Timo Weiland | www.timoweiland.com

Timo Weiland and his partner in design, Alan Eckstein, called their new collection A Wharf on the Baltic.