Peter Do Exits Helmut Lang
News arrived this morning that esteemed New York-based designer Peter Do and Helmut Lang are parting ways after less than two years.
News arrived this morning that esteemed New York-based designer Peter Do and Helmut Lang are parting ways after less than two years.
Peter Do, one of New York’s most exciting designers to emerge in recent years, was offered what many would deem a dream job: to lead Helmut Lang.
Arriving on the New York fashion circuit in 1986, Lang quickly built a reputation for pioneering a new wave of subversion; an aesthetic many thought was appropriately matched with Peter Do, aka, New York's minimalist darling. Alas, less than two years on and it appears otherwise as news broke this morning announcing what many thought was fashion's ultimate pairing has split for good.
Within the New York landscape, it's fair to say Do rose the ranks quite quickly, gaining a cult-like fan base for his eye-catching detail, refined tailoring, and effortlessly chic minimalism. In 2021, he won the LVMH Prize and received rave reviews for his eponymous label's runway debut, and was, frankly, unstoppable. So, what happened?
Do’s debut show for the brand received less than savoury reviews, a proverbial shot that could be heard around the fashion world. Everyone felt that Do played it too safe, ‘He put classic clothes down the runway. A pair of jeans, cool, like that’s obvious, it’s not hard to make a pair of jeans now. You got manufacturers in New York making great jeans. These brown shirts, I have the brown shirt in this colour from Helmut Lang. Do we need it again? I don’t think we do. I don’t think anyone is going to run to the store and buy these jeans’, model Harry Tibby commented when on SHOWstudio's panel discussion unpacking Do's Helmut Lang debut.
As it turned out, the luxe price-point of Do’s clothing coupled with his diluted regurgitation’s of Lang’s pioneering ideas without even so much as a slight injection of his own modern mastery meant not many people were keen on the idea of chucking their money at more stuff. For as much as Do appreciated Lang’s distinctive design language, his short tenure should come as a lesson to future designers to not play it safe. Do was hired for his own originality and technical ability, it's a shame we never saw any of that.