Brian J. Roberts is a writer who’s been featured in CNBC, Time, Inc. Huffington Post and others. Follow him here.
Todd Oldham was just out of high school―and fired from his job at Polo Ralph Lauren―when he asked his parents if he could borrow a hundred dollars. They obliged, and with that hundred bucks, he set out to make his own clothing line. Todd purchased several yards of cotton and dye and then went onto to sell that small collection to Neiman Marcus.
It was the start of something special.
Todd, who hosted his own segment on MTV’s House of Style, was renowned for teaching kids D.I.Y. fashion in the 90’s using whatever household items they could get their hands on. He parlayed his success from the show into scores of other ventures. By the late 90’s, he was running runway shows akin to parties; attendees included everyone from RuPaul and Rosie O’Donnell to Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.
He was appointed Creative Director of Old Navy, made products for Target and more. As far as fashion careers are concerned his was extravagant, but his run eventually came to an end. The end was of his own accord though. Ultimately, Todd went back to his craft roots, inspiring kids to get creative. The venture has been, as the New York Times put, “dearest to Mr. Oldham’s heart”.
The craft product line, Kid Made Modern, is part instructional, part creative. The craft products―which are sold everywhere from Barney’s and Nordstrom to Whole Foods and Target―echo his creative sentiments from the 90’s. “Everything we do is dedicated to giving kids opportunities to feel their creative spark; to be imaginative, self-expressive, and resourceful.” says Todd.
In an industry plagued by products that encourage self consciousness around ones body image and dietary intake, Todd’s craft products are a breath of fresh air that encourage kid’s to embrace what’s inside them.
In an industry plagued by products that encourage child self-consciousness around body image and dietary intake, Todd’s craft products are a breath of fresh air that encourage kids to embrace what’s inside them.
“We’ve brought dozens of products to market, each crafted by our designers to help kids connect to their own inventiveness.” he continued. As evidenced by his storied career, Mr. Oldham is a figure who can speak on that inventiveness with more authority than most.
But that authority and storied career of constant reinvention hasn’t stopped him from connecting with younger audiences. As one Amazon reviewer succinctly put it in her review of his book of the same name: “[Todd] introduces many different techniques―printing/stamping, stitching, etc.― in the context of famous artists and designers [but] the projects are accessible for kids to do without a lot of supervision. [They] actually create some pretty cool-looking and useful objects.”