I recently had the chance to visit with Michael Toccin, who with wife Alex is behind the Toccin NY fashion line and the LDT line sold at Dillard's (mentioned in Dressing Room on March 14).
Toccin was in town for the Sept. 16 Woman of Inspiration Patron Party, honoring Dallas Cowboys First Lady Gene Jones and benefiting Children's Advocacy Centers of Arkansas. The event, which was held at the Governor's Mansion and featured an informal showcase of Toccin fashions (see the story elsewhere in this section), was the precursor to the Woman of Inspiration main event, Oct. 6 at the Statehouse Convention Center. That evening starts off with a 5:30 p.m. VIP party, and features dinner and a Toccin runway show. For ticket information, see arwomanofinspiration.org.
The Toccin brand is a study in both-ands: Both chic and comfortable. Both businesslike and playful. Both colorful and subtle. Especially its fall '21 collection, rich with matching, head-to-toe knit coordinates, cable sweatering, plaids, neutrals, soft-and-easy tees. Oh, and a few body-celebrating evening pieces.
As co-designers, Toccin says his and his wife's goal is creating clothing that "allow women to feel confident, stylish and comfortable."
"We like our women to feel very styled to a T, and very put together," he says. "You know you're going to look like a million bucks when you walk out your door in the morning or at night."
Embarking on their role as a design team, the Toccins realized they each had to go after what they were best at instead of overlapping each other.
"However, at the end of the day, Alex is my muse, and I look to her to say, 'What would she want to be wearing?' But she also tells me what she wants to be wearing. ... What our consumer wants is what they're seeing on our Instagram page and via all of our PR and marketing. They really look to Alex as kind of their muse, too."
It was his grandmother, Toccin says, who nudged him into the fashion industry.
"I was a Southern guy from Miami, Fla., and I always thought I was gonna go into real estate or be a lawyer," he says.
He went to undergraduate school at George Washington University in Washington, majoring in criminal justice. When he was a junior, his grandmother asked him what he was going to do with his life.
"I said, 'You know, I've really got to figure that out.' And she goes, 'I really think you should go into fashion,'" Toccin remembers. "From there I immediately jumped on an opportunity to work."
Toccin interned at Giorgio Armani and gained experience, also stopping at Oscar de la Renta and several other design houses before getting a scholarship to attend Parsons School of Design.
For fashion inspiration, Toccin says, he simply looks to the everyday woman. "At the end of the day, that's who you're dressing," he says. "I like to be approachable; I like to be effortless. But I like to be stylish."
That falls right into the fabric he prefers to work with at the moment.
"I really am into knitwear right now, because I like the stretch and I like the ease. And with knit, you can create a dress; you can create a sweater; you can create a topper. I think it's a great way to interject fashion into your wardrobe.
"I think the knitwear is really driving our business right now. We're noticing we're selling out of these ... head-to-toe sets. ... Our customers [are] really reacting to that."
Toccin NY was founded in 2019 -- right before the covid pandemic. It thrived nonetheless.
"We're like, 'Oh my God, we are a wear-to-work brand, but we're working from home. What are we going to do?'" Toccin recalls. "This is where we had to pivot quick, and ... that's how the knitwear all began. I was like ... 'We need things [in which] women can have stretch, they can feel comfortable but they're going to look stylish on Zoom.'"
The good thing is that the Toccins, having created a small but growing brand, didn't have to lay off or furlough people. "We were actually growing during the pandemic," Toccin says.
Meanwhile the Toccins introduced their Dillard's collection, LDT.
"I think the hardship is what created our strong backbone to get us to where we are today."
And, in its short life, the Toccin line has become a favorite of Arkansas first lady Susan Hutchinson and her daughter, Sarah Wengel.
"I feel so blessed and honored to be able to make them feel stylish and put together and to give them the look that they need," Toccin says. "They've been big advocates of our brands."
The line is known for its signature look, the tie-front dress. For fall 2021, that tie front has been applied to the knits.
"Alex is a girl that always thinks you should identify your waist, whether you have a waist or don't have a waist," Toccin explains. "It actually makes a woman look leaner when it's hitting at the right spot. So that's a big staple for us."
He says the fall collection is "all about being styled from head to toe, and mixing and matching the pieces within the collection, and I'm loving the color palette. I think it feels very autumn. ... It was kind of like, 'Let's start life; let's feel like ... a new beginning.' And fall is always how I think of a new beginning, a new year."
For the Woman of Inspiration, the Toccins launched an evening capsule collection in honor of the Children's Advocacy Centers. A trunk show was held at the Governor's Mansion at the time of the Patron Party to offer attendees something to wear on Oct. 6. Pieces from the collection -- including several shimmery sheaths and a dress with big, dramatic bow-sleeves -- were modeled during the party.
"We wanted women to be able to wear Toccin and give them something from our collection that was dressy enough to attend the event," Toccin says. Ten percent of proceeds will be given to the Centers.
Meanwhile, LDT is dropping its holiday collection, with some things in stores now, he adds.
"We love creating a product that is approachable, at a price point with an amazing look that feels happy and joyful and elegant and sophisticated."
FASHIONABLE GRADS
Arkansas Fashion School will present "State-of-the-Art Fashion," the Emerging Designers Fashion Show featuring the work of its latest graduates, from 6:30-9 p.m. Oct. 9 outdoors at the school, 105 N. Rodney Parham Road Unit 3A in Little Rock. Hosted by Jamileh Kamran, school founder, the event beckons with hors d'oeuvres, wine and champagne. State Sen. Joyce Elliott will be keynote speaker.
Designers will show eight looks, each with matching masks. Graduating students are Ramon Linares, Olena Kasian-Fitzgerald, Emma Ferren, Beth Hollar, Brennon Taylor, Elise Gibson and Charli Sotomora. Leila Joy Richardson, a current senior student, will be showing three designs.
The event is open to the public. Tickets are $100 and can be bought at eventbrite.com (use "emerging designers" as the keyword search).
WANTED: OUTLAW PRODUCTS
Fall has fallen, and the temperatures they will be a-droppin' if they haven't already. Our tires will get low ... and our skin will need to be readied.
The Outlaw line of bath and body products is among the myriad lines submitted for the public's approval, bearing an Old West vibe "for adventurous people, by adventurous people," and available at loveoutlaw.com.
"Made in the wild and woody foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a small but diligent band of outlaws forge soaps, lotions, colognes, and other products that smell like an adventure," according to its press material.
Some of the "flavors": Fire in the Hole, whose ingredients include "campfire" and "excitement"; Home on the Range ("laundry," "infinite summer"); Lust in the Dust; and The Gambler. These come in lotions ($22), handmade soaps ($7), milled bar soaps ($5), body washes ($14), beard and hair elixirs ($24), solid colognes ($24) and spray colognes ($65). Deodorants, candles, travel fragrances and air freshers are also available, as are multipacks of the aforementioned products.
My husband enjoys the Blazing Saddles lotion, said to consist of leather, black powder, sandalwood and sagebrush; and I like the Calamity Jane lotion and handmade soap (Spicy! Sassy! A little sweet"), rich with "clove, orange, cinnamon and whiskey." The lotion is thick and lush without being greasy, and these scents can go anywhere ... you don't have to be riding your mustang across the plains.
Email:
hwilliams@adgnewsroom.com