JUNKER DESIGN
By Beth Levine | Photography by Tas Limur
Tod Waters grew up in Houston in the ’70s. A ’70s full of war films, horror flicks and
the launch of Star Wars – three things that would leave an indelible footprint on his future.
Fascinated with model tanks, trains and soldiers, Tod started to experiment with the concept
of “distressing” out clothing at an early age, stealing his dad’s threadbare t-shirts before his
mom could throw them in the trash. Ironically, the art of scavenging would play a huge part
in the evolution of his career.
Tod first became aware of the stages wardrobe could go through after reading about actor Roy
Scheider having 10 separate costumes of the same outfit for a movie he was filming in order
to accurately reflect the real life weathering the character would experience if he was actually
wearing the same outfit for the duration of the film. Heavily influenced by costume designers
Bob Ringwood, Colleen Atwood and John Mollo (responsible for the military fashion of Alien,
Tod’s #1 horror film), Tod decided to move to Los Angeles on a whim after helping a friend
drive across country. Working for a local screen printer, the ever resourceful Tod literally found
whatever he could material-wise (even his Singer sewing machine was found at a garage
sale!) and began printing his own designs with the help of a friend schooling him in the arts
of pattern making. In a story that could only happen in LA, this same friend happened to have
singer Lenny Kravitz’s stylist at her house, a house that Tod was using to put together his oneof-a-kind weathered vest creations. The stylist was so taken with the vests, he bought
them...all of them...and Junker Designs (www.junkerdesigns.com) was born.
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I admit I was actually a little mortified I had never heard of Junker Designs (though Tod’s work
is well-known and worn by the likes of Pink, Britney Spears, Steven Tyler, Vince Neil, Nikki
Sixx, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and the cast of Sons of Anarchy) until this interview. His
creations are a feast for the senses – mutilated leather and weathered textures with an almost
palpable feeling of the aging processes he uses to create them. I wanted all of them. Lucky
for me and for Houston, Tod is moving back home and hopes to create a custom clothing warehouse space, fusing together his love of music and fashion, that not only showcases one-of-akind clothing but also allows the customer to collaborate, becoming a part of the actual
process itself. So if you happen to see a guy hunting through the wastelands of Houston for
treasure (anything except UGGs is fair game), it might just be Tod, and what he’s creating
might just be the next best thing you can’t wait to wear.