^BC-Celeb-FiveQs-Todd Oldham,0953
^$Adv00
^For immediate release
^Five Questions with Todd Oldham: the designer behind the boyish grin
^With AP Photo NY359 of April 8
^By FRANCINE PARNES= ^For The Associated Press=
Years before designer Todd Oldham's boyish Beaver Cleaver looks made him a familiar face on MTV, he showed up to register for the draft, his Neiman Marcus charge card as I.D.
Today his famous mop-topped mug could practically qualify him for a commercial for American Express.
The downtown designer is busy cranking out madcap fashion collisions, like ball skirts in straw and sheer fatigue-pants over cherry-print G-strings. By flaunting fashion faux pas (evening gowns with loafers, anyone?), Oldham has drawn a dedicated following among the young and hip.
He fills his runways with supermodels and his audiences with superstars Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Uma Thurman.
Since 1993, Oldham has done guest spots on MTV's ``House of Style,'' including his irreverent ``Todd Time'' segment, which played a three-year stint. He's appeared on ``The Nanny'' and ``Roseanne.'' And he's exhibited his paintings at New York City and Palm Beach, Fla., galleries.
Now there's www.toddoldham.com on the Web, which highlights the coolest record of the month or funky Greek postcards.
Also on Oldham's agenda: music videos and a new men's collection.
Prior to last week's New York fashion shows, the former Texan, 36, was in Los Angeles for a round of meetings for an upcoming film. As he took a breather in his room at the tony Mondrian hotel, Oldham described the unfinished script for his untitled movie, set for release in 1999. The film chronicles the travels of a woman who gets around about as much as he does.
``At one point she's in prison, on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and has a one-woman art show on (New York's) 57th Street, all within a two-week period,'' he said. ``It's a story about empowerment, a woman who rises above every situation.''
She's not the only one for whom Oldham rallies. The soft-spoken vegetarian refuses to provide clothes for advertising to any cosmetics company that tests its products on animals. Cigarette companies had better look elsewhere, too.
He also opposes the military. ``I have always been that way. I'm not a violent person nor do I advocate any violence,'' he says.
As for the Neiman's charge plate, ``It was the only I.D. I had on me,'' he said. ``It wasn't anything intentional, though I was probably projecting that.''
Oldham likewise packs light when it comes to what he wears. He appears onstage at the end of a show, looking every bit the Cleaver kid, in a sweater and cords, or T-shirt and chinos.
1: How do you decide what to wear to your show?
Oldham: It's whatever I put on that day. You don't even think about it. I look the same all the time anyway. I can't imagine coordinating one more thing that day.
2: What's in your wardrobe
Oldham: Most of my pants are old, from the Salvation Army or thrift store. I wear lots of jeans and corduroys. I don't dress as loudly as I used to. I really love wild patterns, but as my face got plastered around more, it became more complicated for me to maneuver. It's easier to dress to disappear. I'm very comfortable in 'clown-school' clothes, but it makes it harder to move around.
3: What's most nerve-racking about preparing for Fashion Week?
Oldham: Making sure the clothes all arrive is definitely the most stressful part. The coordination arrangements are outrageous. The clothes are made on three or five continents and really travel. Just to get it all to arrive in one place at the right time is like a military maneuver. We'll design the print in America, ship it to the Far East for printing, then it comes back to New York, then to India to be re-embroidered or beaded. Hopefully our sample ends up back in New York. And then you do the charade all over again, multiplying it by a lot.
4: Do you ever have a pre-Fashion Week nightmare that you give a show and no one shows up?
Oldham: I haven't had that one. But until my last show, about five weeks before the show I'd have a nightmare that everything went wrong. It was like clockwork. I'm not nervous about any of it anymore. After 16 shows in a row, at this point I should know what I'm doing.
5: With all your TV appearances, you're a more famous face than other designers. Did you check into the Mondrian in dark glasses and a wig?
Oldham: I was recognized, but I'm not really a controversial character. Pretty much 99.9 percent of the time, people are very, very kind and friendly. They don't come up to me usually and say, 'Man, that was the ugliest skirt I ever saw.' It's no problem. If I'm out in public, I'm often approached. What I look like on TV is what I look like in real life. You can pretty much tell it's me. I go to Taco Bell. The bean burritos are way excellent.
^End Adv for Immediate Release