Peter Do Is Now the Creative Director of Helmut Lang
Most people don’t know what Peter Do looks like, but in downtown New York everyone knows his name. The designer is notoriously private, often obscuring his face in photos. But the name he shares with the brand he started has been the center of every New York Fashion Week conversation since 2018.
Last season, when Do didn’t host a runway show, editors were equally disappointed and concerned about its fate. Eight days ago, he squashed any fear with an Instagram post announcing his fall 2023 collection, “Modular,” which consists of 20 pieces styled in 365 different looks. And today, it was announced he’d be Helmut Lang’s new creative director.
In a statement, Do spoke of his long time admiration for the brand. “No one embodied radical thinking more definitively than Helmut Lang. It is my deep honor to be entrusted with ushering in the next chapter of Helmt 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.”
Do's first day is on May 15, and he will oversee all creative responsibilities for the women’s and men’s collections. His debut collection, Spring/Summer 2024, will be presented during New York Fashion Week in September. The Peter Do brand isn't going anywhere, though; he will remain at the helm.
Do will report directly to Helmut Lang’s CEO, Dinesh Tandon, who said in a statement, “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 will make him a natural choice for this role.”
Helmut Lang was established in 1989 by Helmut Lang, a self-taught Austrian designer who began making made-to-measure fashion in Vienna in 1977. His designs have been described as austere and intellectual, often drawing comparisons to Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo. While sleek, Lang’s signature suits and denim often had an unfinished look to them with raw edges and loose thread, helping usher in the deconstructed fashion movement of the 1980s. An autodidact, he pulled inspiration from art instead of fashion, which resulted in clothing that truly felt avant-garde.
Lang lived his life in anonymity after rising to fame out of nowhere, and altered the course of the fashion industry despite remaining a relative outsider. For spring/summer 1998, he showed two pieces that went on to be wildly influential. His ballistic vest was structured like those meant to be bulletproof, but stuffed with goose down and styled under a tank top with slacks. The painter denim from the same season—a simple pair of dark wash jeans splattered with white paint—has since been imitated hundreds of times over by brands across the world.
When Lang decided he wanted to show his collection in 1997 earlier than was standard in New York, the entire industry took note, and New York Fashion Week became the first on the fashion month calendar instead of the last. While most brands took decades to ease into the idea of the internet, he decided to stream his entire collection in 1998.
In 2004, he abruptly left fashion entirely to focus on art. The brand cycled through designers and was acquired multiple times, but no one was able to restore the soul that Lang had brought to the operation. His name quickly became associated with surplus sales and lackluster collections. Many see Do as someone who can change that.
By simply being inspired by Lang, Do is different. After growing up in Vietnam, Do studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology and received the 2014 LVMH graduate prize. He worked in the ready-to-wear atelier of Phoebe Philo’s Céline and then at Derek Lam. He has the education in fashion that Lang didn't possess. But what he shares with the designer is an air of mystique, a quick rise to acclaim, and an appreciation for uncomplicated beauty expressed through tailoring and sharp silhouettes.
Fashion's obsession with the ineffable '90s chic that Lang partly pioneered is alive and well, but Gen Z doesn't turn to the Helmut Lang of today for that. Instead they scour secondhand sites for Helmut Lang grails of the past—or they shop Peter Do. Soon enough, he might become known not just for clothes that capture the feeling of Helmut Lang, but for also making the brand truly cool once more.
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