Peter Do Is Now Creative Director Helmut Lang

Most people don’t know what Peter Do looks like, but everyone in downtown New York knows his name. The designer is notoriously secretive, often covering her face in photographs. But the name she shares with the brand she founded has been at the center of nearly every New York Fashion Week conversation since 2018.

Last season, when Do didn’t host the runway shows, editors were both disillusioned and concerned for the designer’s fate. Eight days ago, she dispelled any fear with an Instagram post announcing her fall 2023 collection, Modular, which consists of 20 pieces styled in 365 different looks. And today, it was announced that he would be Helmut Lang’s new creative director.

In a statement, Do spoke of his longstanding admiration for the brand. No one embodied radical thought more definitively than Helmut Lang. It is my great honor to be entrusted with delivering the next chapter in Helmut Lang’s legacy. I am excited to learn from the foundation this house stands on and to continue to create new, energetic clothing that inspires people to challenge their understanding of what is possible to express their individuality.

Do’s first day is May 15, and she’ll be overseeing all creative responsibilities for the women’s and men’s collections. Her debut collection, Spring/Summer 2024, will be presented during New York Fashion Week in September. However, the Peter Do brand isn’t going anywhere; he will remain at the helm.

Kate Moss walked in the Helmut Lang show in 1997.

Do will report directly to Helmut Lang CEO Dinesh Tandon, who said in a statement that Do’s clear and innovative design approach is very much in line with the brand’s ethos and heritage. Her experience with luxury fashion houses and her renowned eponymous label would have made her a natural choice for this role.

A model wears Helmut Lang’s iconic splatter jeans during the spring/summer 1998 runway show.

Austrian self-taught designer Lang began making made-to-measure clothing in Vienna in 1977 and founded his eponymous brand in 1989. His designs have been described as austere and intellectual, often being compared to those of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo. Though sleek, Lang’s signature suits and denim often had an unfinished look, with rough edges and loose threads, helping usher in the 1980s deconstruction fashion movement. Self-taught, she draws inspiration from art rather than fashion, which results in clothes that feel truly avant-garde.

A model wearing one of Lang’s tactical vests during a 1998 show.

Lang lived his life in anonymity after becoming famous out of nowhere, and changed the course of the fashion industry while remaining a relative outsider. For the spring/summer of 1998, he showed two pieces which went on to become hugely influential. His ballistic vest was made like bulletproof, but filled with down and styled under a tank top with trousers. Painter denim from the same season—a simple pair of dark wash jeans splattered with white paint has been copied hundreds of times by brands around the world.

NCT’s Jeno opened Peter Do’s spring 2023 show in New York last September, wearing one of Do’s signature backless suits and sharp square-toed platforms.

When Lang decided he wanted to show his 1997 collection earlier than usual in New York, the entire industry took note, and New York Fashion Week became the first on the fashion month calendar, not the last. While most brands take decades to grasp the idea of ​​the internet, Lang decided to stream his entire collection in 1998.

In 2004, she suddenly left fashion entirely to focus on art. The brand circulated through designers and was acquired many times, but nothing could restore the soul 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 him.

Only by 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 award. She worked at Phoebe Philos Cline’s ready-to-wear atelier and then at Derek Lam. He had an education in fashion that Lang lacked. But what she did share with the designer was an air of mystique, quick acclaim, and appreciation for the uncomplicated beauty expressed through tailoring and sharp silhouettes.

The fashion obsession with ineffable ’90s elegance that Lang partially pioneered is alive and well, but Gen Z isn’t turning to Helmut Lang nowadays for it. Instead, they scoured second-hand sites for the priest’s Helmut Lang helmet they had purchased at Peter Do’s shop. Before long, he’ll probably be known not only for clothes that capture the feeling of Helmut Lang, but also for making the brand really cool once again.

Tara Gonzalez is Senior Fashion Editor at Harper’s Market. Previously, he was a style writer at InStyleset up trade editor in Captivating, and fashion editor in coverter.