Out Spotlight

Today’s Spotlight is a designer who pairs the quirky and fun, with bold, bright colors and wraps it up with an all-American sensibility. He has become known to millions through his fashion lines, interior designs, books and by appearing on television shows. Today’s Out Spotlight is designer Todd Oldham.

Todd Oldham was born Jacky Todd Oldham in Corpus Christi, Texas, October 22, 1961 to Jack and Linda Oldham. One of four children (two sisters and one brother) his father’s job as a computer programmer had the family moving around including a four-year stint in Iran when Oldham was 12. Todd was taught how to sew at age 9 by his grandmother and at 15, he designed his first dress when he sewed together some pillowcases. After high school, he moved to Dallas TX, where he found his first job in the alterations department at Polo Ralph Lauren. Soon after he borrowed $100 from his parents, bought 41 yards of white cotton jersey, dyed it, and created a tiny collection, which he sold to Dallas based high end retailer Neiman Marcus.

In 1989, he launched his first clothing line. Two years later, he was honored with the prestigious Designer Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. His young, vibrant approach soon landed him a regular segment, “Todd Time,” on MTV’s “House of Style” hosted by supermodel Cindy Crawford. His enthusiastic persona and wild ideas (he once told viewers to dye their hair with Kool-Aid) made him a cult figure, and from there on has never looked back. He went on hosted Fashionably Loud on MTV in 1999.

In 1998, Oldham moved to New York with his business partner, Tony Longoria. He served for three years as creative consultant to fashion house Escada while continuing to produce his own line. He launched a perfume line in 1995. He went on to worked with Target to design a clothing line and expanded to design housewares, and dorm room furniture for the company. Also In 1995, he produced a clothing line associated with the Warner Brothers film Batman Forever.

In 1999, he took a hiatus from fashion to found L-7 Designs. This enabled him to branch out from clothing, taking on design in other forms. He served as architect and interior designer of The Hotel in South Beach in 1999, and recently designed the annex to the hotel, designed floral arrangements for FTD, Barbie dolls for little girls, sneakers and directed music videos. Oldham also designed furniture and home accessories for La-Z-Boy furniture from 2003–2007.

In 2007, Oldham was tapped to become the creative director for Old Navy. In the role, he was in charge of nearly 160 designers with opposing tastes and philosophies. He organized them together, and the first line produced under his influence debuted to rave reviews. After his first quarter, sales were up for the first time in years. Half way through a three year contract Old Navy parted ways with Oldham and their contract. The very public breakup included Oldham court.

Oldham served as a mentor to the contestants on Bravo’s “Top Design.” He has become actively involved in book publishing. He has produced a number of books on various aspects of style for Ammo Books as part of the Place Space series. Books in the series include photos and essays on filmmaker John Waters, the artist compound in upstate New York owned by Joe Holtzman (the founder of Nest magazine), and the Rhode Island School of Design’s off-campus housing and Bedrock City. Oldham has also created Hand Made Modern, Without Boundaries, and various other titles. In June 2007, Oldham released a monograph of artist Charley Harper’s work titled An Illustrated Life. He has written several children’s books, bringing modern design to kids to make.

A philanthropist, Oldham serves on the boards of charities and conservation groups including the advisory board of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), to work in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health and culture in Central America. He is also on the board of Aperture, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting photography. He has also been involved with Habitat for Humanity and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He is very active with Bailey House, the oldest housing program in the United States for people with HIV/AIDS.

Todd is happily married to his husband, Matthew.

"The one thing we can really count on is change.”