When designer Timothy Westbrook was three years old, he would dance and spin around the living room. His sister, then six, recorded him one day, “And she’s like, ‘And there’s Timmy. The weird womanly thing,’” Westbrook recalled.
“And my mom in the kitchen just shouts, ‘Why does he have to be a boy or a girl? Why can’t he just be a dancer?’” Westbrook said. “So, it’s like 1993 in the middle of the boonies. And my mom is deprogramming gender norms.
” Westbrook, 35, grew up in Wanakena, New York, where, he said, he was free to be himself. “From the beginning, whatever I could get my hands on, I would just put on my body and make my outfit,” he said. This became the foundation of his design: making something new out of something old to reveal a wearer’s authentic self.
“I think ultimately the idea is that clothing can send you anywhere,” Westbrook said. “Clothing can be a billboard for your most authentic and imaginative thoughts.” Westbrook, who holds a bachelor’s degree in fibre arts and material studies from Syracuse University, wants to make the world of fashion a more comfortable place, especially for those on their wedding day.
He invites clients to wear what feels good to them. In his studio in Dumbo, Brooklyn, he created the TL Brooke bridal line, which uses only pre- and post-consumer fabrics, scraps and reclaimed materials. His work, he said, includes “a client interested in wearing an elven-inspired bridal look as a male pre.