Peter Do

So, who is Peter Do? Try searching for recent pictures and you’ll draw a blank: he refuses to show his face—not even for features about him, like this one.

While working for Moda Operandi, my team developed a content franchise called “In The Frame”—spotlighting designers with our access and a subtle nod to our graphic framing devices. “In The Frame” is an initiative within which Moda activates a singular designer cross-channel to drive engagement through content and events between our clients and our favorite emerging designers. For this inaugural designer spotlight, we took our consumer into the atelier of Peter Do where you see things just as he does.

In The Frame: Peter Do

Two years in, with stockists around the globe, glowing reviews on Vogue (it’s worth noting that Peter Do does not advertise), and a rapidly-growing Instagram following, they’ve achieved considerable success. Yet the team has remained small with just eight people, plus four (fastidiously chosen) interns. “It’s not about having lots of people,” Do says. “It’s about having the right people.”

“There’s so much celebrity in fashion. I want us to be known for the work that we do,” the New York designer says, a soft accent revealing his Vietnamese roots.

Quality over quantity is something of a brand motto. “We have a very edited collection,” Do explains, while gesturing to the neat racks of their signature staples: trousers, deconstructed blazers, trench coats, and transformational knits all laced with that distinctive “Peter Do” edge. Everything is tailored. The goal, according to Do, is to “eliminate puffers, sweatpants, hoodies, and Ugg boots from people’s wardrobes”. Uggs, I can get behind, but what’s he got against puffers? “I don’t think puffers are the only way to stay warm,” he says. “If a coat is made properly, then it should be warm.”

“Wardrobe malfunctions,” such as poorly-insulated coats, are Do’s chief source of inspiration. He’s an obsessive people-watcher, constantly looking for ways to improve their daily uniforms. “Each season, we identify a problem—like too much bulk in a sweater or not enough movement in an arm—and try to solve it,” he says, opening up a blazer to reveal a vertical inside pocket. (Women’s blazers have horizontal pockets—that is, if they have pockets at all—but Do flipped his because “it’s more natural for your hand to slide in vertically.”) Inconspicuous luxuries like these may escape the untrained eye, but they come to life when worn. And they’re what the label excels in.

“My job is not to impose a fantasy on women, it’s to ask, ‘how can I make your life easier?,’” says Do, who credits Phoebe Philo with this approach. After winning the prestigious LVMH prize during his last year at FIT, Do was offered a post at any one of the luxury French houses. He chose Céline and immediately moved to Paris. “I learned to make real clothes, actual clothes that women want to wear,” he recalls. “It was about creating a wardrobe that gives women stability, a comfort zone, a sort of safety net so that they can get on with their lives.”

The challenge lies in making those ordinary, everyday pieces extraordinarily desirable (such was the magic of Philo). It requires creativity, which Do has in spades (his signature four-piece suit includes a pleated skirt). But perhaps most important is a millimeter-oriented appetency for perfection. Do and the team work directly onto the body, in fittings that go on for hours on end. “If we don’t get it right, I’ll cancel it,” he says, referencing a trench coat from FW '20 that took years to perfect. “This season, we finally got it right.” To reveal the meticulous workmanship behind his creations, Do developed a sheer fabric known as “spacer.” Spongy and neoprene-like, it carries the ethereal lightness of tulle yet is shockingly hardy—able to withstand even the tumble dryer. It’s become the office uniform. The team layers A-line spacer-cut coats over (mostly) black tailoring and Margiela Tabi boots. It paints a striking picture, a kind of futuristic throwback to the traditional “chemises” found in the Haute Couture houses of Paris.

“Seeing such high-level craft while working at Céline inspired me to build something of my own here in New York,” says Do. The studio, a light and airy though by no means vast space, is located in South Brooklyn's Industry City. Despite the setting, the team has managed to foster a rarefied atmosphere. Watching them at work, a symbiotic orchestra of white coats with Do as their conductor, is quite a beautiful sight. “One of our main goals is to build an atelier, to bring craftsmanship and garment-making back again,” says Do. Sounds like they’re already halfway there.

Photographer: Enrico Brunetti
Director: Andrew Rothschild
Interview: Tatiana Hambro
Producer: Jackie Ladner
Art Director: Juliana Cala