It Took Peter Do Two Years to Find the Perfect Shade of Black (EXCLUSIVE)
Peter Do isn’t throwing shade at color. He just knows what he likes. “There are a lot of nuances,” he says of the chromatic spectrum. “It’s so personal.” His mother, he says, adores every variety of pink. But black is Do’s ride-or-die. “I never wake up and feel like I can’t or don’t want to wear black, because you're in New York, right?”
The enigmatic Vietnamese-born designer is in Chelsea talking to Highsnobiety at the first pop-up for his new label, PD-168. It’s a portmanteau of his initials and the number of hours in the week, reflecting both the label’s personal appeal and versatile wearability. Compared to his eponymous mainline collection, PD-168 is relatively affordable, ranging in price from $110 for a tank top to $850 for a tailored coat, when a mainline equivalent of the latter costs closer to $2,000).
PD-168’s debut collection is crafted from a trifecta of fabrics. There’s a soft rib made from eco-conscious tencel used for baby tees and roomy sweats. Then, there’s a washed terry that gives boxy jersey hoodies and tees a lived-in feel. But the crown jewel is a bespoke “liquid satin” created for Do in Japan; it’s as silky as its sounds and velouté-smooth to the touch. It also doesn't sweat, smell, wrinkle, or fade — this is a fabric for the aesthetic-obsessed, anti-aging generation. “I wanted something that looked luxurious but that's easy care,” he says. Hence why the whole collection is — sorry, dry cleaners! — entirely machine-washable.
This hero textile is applied to pieces borrowed directly from Do’s personal wardrobe, like a utilitarian bomber jacket complete with phone-sized pockets, two-way zippers, and tactical compartments. That’s because PD-168 was created for Peter Do and by Peter Do, “branded” solely by a single white stripe that mirrors the designer's own tattoo. As such, PD-168’s possibilities are endless. This first drop comprises typically Do tailored items alongside less-commonly-seen “sportswear” like running shorts and sweats, but future seasonless collections could include anything. Even color (well, maybe).
Do says that, especially after a few rainy weeks in New York, he's always wanted the perfect raincoat. Maybe he’ll make one for PD-168. Or, if he starts spending more time in the kitchen, he'll cook up an apron. “I want it [PD-168] to grow with me,” he says.
PD-168 “is the uniform I wear every day to design Peter Do the brand,” he says downstairs in the VIP-only section that displays Peter Do garments available only to PD Club, his members-only, password-protected clique. Whereas PD-168 is single-tone and modular, this offering includes wool skirts whose lining could be inverted to create wearable blouses and box-pleated slacks whose flowing volume concealed cut-outs that reveal a peek of flesh when they swish across one’s leg. Very Peter Do, the brand, but for a better idea of Peter Do, the person, PD-168 is what fits the bill.
“In a way, this feels more like myself than the mainline," says Do, gesturing at the PD-168 trousers he's wearing. "It’s an ease of getting dressed in the morning, you can focus on other things you need to do throughout the day.”
PD-168 has been thought out so you don't have to do any thinking. You may not notice that one crisp blazer eschews a “fussy” surgeon's cuff in favor of one that’s easier to roll up, but you will likely appreciate the waist-attached cord that allows it to be adjusted to your silhouette. Herein lies the quiet power of Do’s new line; in addition to being practical, it’s also transformable, meaning you can switch things up from day-to-day. Ironically, freshness is key to a successful uniform. “It’s a living system,” as Do says.
This fluid quality is epitomized by the collection’s genderless approach. “The challenge to design for men and women together is [they] shop differently,” he says, pointing to divisions on the heights at which pants are usually worn. To work around that, elastic waists make it easier to wear trousers low-slung or high-waisted; PD-168 also runs from XXS to XXL. The result is a dependable arsenal of staples.
But this everyday approach definitely doesn’t mean quotidian. A longline tank top emblazoned with “THOT LEADER” doesn’t exactly scream normcore; this item was co-designed with Tony Wang, who's adopted PD-168 as the staff uniform for his consulting agency, The Office of Applied Strategy.
But PD-168 isn’t just about making tank tops for thinktanks — it’s a uniform for life designed for all. Hence the line's mantra: Every Hour, Every Black, Everyone, and Everything. And customers are already on Do’s wavelength. Even during the soft opening on Friday, the pop-up was already accruing a crowd of true believers. Do is repeating the pop-up, which ran last weekend, on November 20 to satiate demand. “A lot of neighbors have popped by and said ‘This is how I dress’ or ‘I only wear black’ or ‘This is perfect,’” he says.
Do’s quietly clever wearables have a habit of creating converts. His word-of-mouth following was at least part of the reason that he was appointed creative director of legendary New York label Helmut Lang in May 2023, only five years after formally launching his eponymous line. Do’s tenure at Lang was ironically, rather short, lasting under two years, but his believers would be the first to tell you that it wasn’t Do’s fault, but that his vision is too exacting for anyone else’s operation.
Still, you can observe the cult-favorite Austrian’s DNA in PD-186’s unpretentious take on tailoring down to, of course, that proliferation of black. Like Lang, Do finds its dark romance intoxicating but also impossible to easily categorize. When asked about why he prefers black to, say, blue or gray, Do replies that he’s not entirely sure. He just goes by feeling. “You live with it,” he says. “You can get it dirty.”
Do himself lived with the entire collection. It took literal years to finalize the shapes and shades for PD-168 because he had to personally wear the clothes dialing in the fit and feel. Even the tone selected for PD-168’s lynchpin satin fabric was quite exacting, because it has to blend with everything else without fading into the background. “This is the right shade,” he says, pointing to a perfectly louche blazer. “Neutral. Not too cold, not too warm.” Beyond an essential collection, PD-168 is a new way of seeing an absence of light, deceptively simple and deeply complex. One that, fittingly, totally absorbs you.
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