EXCLUSIVE: Peter Do Named Creative Director of Helmut Lang
Peter Do, known for his effortless cool factor and fine tailoring, has been named creative director of Helmut Lang, effective this coming Monday.
Rumors of Do’s appointment have been circulating for months.
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Do will oversee all creative responsibilities for the women’s and men’s collections, and his debut collection for spring 2024 will be presented during New York Fashion Week in September. He will continue to helm his own eponymous brand.
Do will be based at the Helmut Lang design studio at Fast Retailing’s Design and Innovation Center in New York and will report to Dinesh Tandon, chief executive officer of Helmut Lang, who also heads Theory.
Most recently, Helmut Lang has been designed by a studio team. In the past, others who have held creative roles at Helmut Lang include Mark Howard Thomas, who has been creative director, men’s wear, Thomas Cawson, who has been design director and creative director, denim, and Shayne Oliver, who has been designer in residence.
“We are thrilled to have Peter Do join Helmut Lang as creative director. His clear and innovative approach to design very much aligns with the brand’s ethos and heritage. His experience with luxury fashion houses and his acclaimed eponymous label make him a natural choice for this role,” said Tandon.
Do was born in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, and immigrated to the suburbs of Philadelphia at 14 years old. He studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and was the recipient of the inaugural 2014 LVMH Graduate Prize. He then took a job in the ready-to-wear atelier at Celine under Phoebe Philo and later at Derek Lam. In 2018, he launched his own eponymous label.
Do’s affinity for Lang began during his formative years studying at FIT, he said.
“No one embodied radical thinking more definitively than Helmut Lang,” said Do. “It is my deep honor to be entrusted with ushering in the next chapter of Helmut Lang’s legacy. I am excited to learn from the foundations this house stands on and to continue creating new, energetic clothes that inspire people to challenge their understanding of what is possible when it comes to expressing their individuality,” he said.
Helmut Lang, which was established in 1986, is well known for its pioneering minimalism, engagement with artists and challenges to orthodoxy. The brand pays homage to its namesake [Helmut Lang left the industry 18 years ago] with a progressive approach across rtw, special edition capsules and multidisciplinary collaborations.
Do was unavailable Wednesday to further discuss his new role.
When Do launched his designer collection, he was quickly seen as the new guard of fashion, building his brand through social media. After unveiling his namesake collection for spring 2019 during Paris market — without a show, presentation or press — he landed nine confirmed stockists, including Net-a-porter and Dover Street Market Ginza, London and New York.
“This whole brand was put together by word-of-mouth and Instagram,” said Do in a 2018 WWD interview. While the Instagram posts got him noticed, his aesthetic, variety of looks, and confident blend of refinement, whimsy and comfort got him orders.
In the 2018 interview, he said, “Peter Do is a brand built on the internet. It’s important to remember that just because a brand is online, does not mean it has to be impersonal. This is how our generation interacts. As a brand, we’re embracing this shift. I want my customer to feel connected with the brand.”
Last year, Do forged a collaboration with Opening Ceremony, which launched exclusively on Farfetch. And in September, Do unveiled a partnership with Korea’s SM Entertainment, which has him working with the company’s roster of K-pop stars. The deal came about after Do dressed South Korean boy band NCT member Johnny Suh for the 2022 Met Gala in a sexy black silk tuxedo with a vest, no shirt, long coat and white side stripe pants, with square-toed boots.
It was considered the ideal way for Do to tease his menswear debut, which was made official on the runway last September.
Reached for comment about the news, Julie Gilhart, chief development officer of Tomorrow and president of Tomorrow Projects, said, “I think this is a terrific choice. I think Peter is a great designer. His last show in New York was spectacular, and I think he will have a lot of support for this. People appreciate his great design, his hard work and his attention to detail. It’s not easy building a business, and most designers need to fund their business with other things. They’re all looking for ideas that can help them get through this period.”
Asked whether she feels Do’s aesthetic matches well with Lang’s, she added, “There’s only one Helmut Lang, but [Do] has an artistic approach, he has a certain dare and a certain strong idea of presentation and design. It think it does match some of the ideas Helmut had. Peter will interpret this in his own way.”
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