Objets d’Art

Some years ago, Toller received a major commission from Vinuchi to create original designs for a collection of high-quality silk scarves that would be marketed internationally. He submitted his designs to Vinuchi, who were ecstatic. Then he went to a leather factory in Léon and bought a bunch of black leather garments. He bought long trench coats, bomber jackets, and short blazers. It seemed that he bought every leather garment in the city of Léon which is known far-and-wide as the leather capital of Latin America.

And then, he had a huge fashion show. It was the hugest and most outrageous fashion show. I am a fashion merchandiser, and this was far and away the most outrageous event of my entire life.

The taxis were lined up around the block. When you walked in the door…it was dark…except for the candlelight…he had a bunch of probably six-foot-high giant candelabras lit with hundreds and hundreds of big fat white candles that were dripping and flickering and overflowing with wax. He had all these tin star lights hanging from the trees and the bushes and suspended in an ark high above the pool. They were twinkling from all over the place. There was incense curling up from everywhere. It was so outrageous. Don’t forget that San Miguel is in the high desert. It is semiarid. But here, you felt like you were in the rain forest. So lush. So much greenery and flowers. Overflowing lushness.

And the music was blasting. Emma Shapplin, a pop opera star similar to Sarah Brightman, but better, was belting Carmine Meo at the top of her lungs and it went all across the ethers of this whole block. So, Emma is singing and floods of lava are coming off the candelabras and the incense is billowing up. It was the mood that he set in this outrageously overgrown but controlled garden. The night was pure magic.

At some point, we were moved upstairs to the studio for the fashion show. Then, from out of nowhere, came the models—women and men, in dramatically outrageous makeup and wearing the most unbelievable garments. Toller had hand painted every one of the leather garments with the same designs as the Vinuchi scarves—big bright paisleys in gold, and hot green. Shocking, bold designs, and wild tones. Every single one was over-the-top breathtaking. They were worksof wearable art. The one that knocked me out the most was a long black trench coat with huge paisley designs on the back.

Each piece was sold by the time the model finished their up and down through the studio because everybody wanted them. They all sold immediately. They weren’t cheap and they shouldn’t have been.

Toller was the commentator. He was funny—dry funny, smart funny. But, you know, he actually didn’t need to say a whole lot because the clothes did the speaking. They were outrageous and colourful and had an air of a kind of wild elegance. OMG! With all these models floating around, everything was other-worldly.

It was done masterly…it was the whole scene… and the music…OMG the music. We were all on Toller’s doorstep the next day and we said “Who is this music?” The music that was other-worldly celestial. We all said, “We have to have it!” And we all rushed off to the store where Toller got it. The guy in the store said, “Do you know how many of these we have sold today?” We were knocked out because the whole thing was so outrageous and stunning and sophisticated. Sexual. Sexy. Sensuous. But, sophisticated.

After that, when he would do events, Toller would run full-page ads in the Atencion so that everyone would be able to attend, but he would usually do a vernissage the night before for his inner-group. Nobody ever turned down an invitation to Toller’s events at any level.