New York-based designer Todd Thomas wants the current Craft Alliance exhibit of his designs and inspirations to assure young designers, artisans and people in every vocation that fantasy has a purpose.

In Thomas' world, it serves a necessary purpose as he develops outlandish costumes for the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and Katy Perry's California Dreams tour. He's got a project in the works with Debbie Harry and has produced red carpet gowns for Molly Ringwald and Sarah Jessica Parker. In addition to all that, he has a women's and a men's line of clothing that screams cultured society soiree.

But the projects that he lists among the highlights of his career are subtle costume designs for movies.

"Something will spark me in another direction, or doing this will ignite another idea for something else," Thomas said. "It seems like a lot, but that's how I work, I really focus and obsess and get crazy on one thing before I move on to something else."

And it all started with the ill-formed dream of a punk rock kid from Murphysboro, Ill. He left home for the big city — St. Louis in the late 1970s — to indulge in a then-thriving punk rock scene.

"I swear to God it existed. It doesn't seem like it now, but up and down Washington Avenue these young people were taking over abandoned building to form pop-up night clubs, concert spaces and restaurants," Thomas said. "It was this age of do-it-yourself, guerrilla tactics to get stuff done, and that was really exciting."

His desire to express himself through fashion design came from creating his own club attire. He said that he was inspired to do more by the supportive network of designers, musicians and business owners that he met here.

He's had a long friendship with Jeigh Singleton, a professor and the former head of Washington University's fashion design program; Carol Crudden, the owner of the Ziezo Boutique, which has remained an independent St. Louis fashion staple for 30 years; and longtime St. Louis restaurateur Zoe Robinson.

"Meeting the people I did when I did made everything else possible, they gave me the support to move on … the confidence." Thomas said that the impossible doesn't seem so impossible when "you're young and don't know any better."

His next stop was New York in 1983, and instead of going to a traditional fashion school, he learned by working in the garment district on the technical side of the operations — pattern making, sample making, cutting, sourcing. That's where he learned the foundation for the fantastical creations he proposes today.

"It's important to be outrageous. That's part of the fantasy and the art of fashion … and that's an important part of fashion, but it's important to know the craft," Thomas said during an interview at Craft Alliance's Grand Center location as he pondered the Power Point presentation for his pre-opening lecture. (See more on the opening at stltoday.com/stylefile.)

"People don't give craft enough credit in fashion," Thomas said speaking of textile art, jewelry making, ceramics and sculpture. The key to great fashion is ingenuity, he said. You need someone dreaming up big things, but you need crafts people who can make those dreams reality.

But oddly enough, Thomas said that, lately, the work he finds most exciting is menswear … because it can be so restrictive. There are some designers who make grand gestures and strive to take menswear to a new level, but Thomas is simply striving to make his mark on essential wardrobe items.

"A suit is a suit, a top coat is a top coat and a jacket is a jacket, but the trick is figuring out what I'm saying and to convey my aesthetic ... what's my twist on it ... in a fraction of a inch in the shape of a lapel," Thomas said. "The modifications are so small because the items are so structured, and I'm really liking that now."

He said even small details can make a bold statement and sometimes it takes wandering into fantasy to realize that simplicity can be equally outlandish if it holds a surprise.

Todd Thomas: Off the Rails

When • Exhibit open until Nov. 2

Where • Des Lee Gallery, 1627 Washington Avenue

Information • Craft Alliance, craftalliance.org or 314-725-1177