It’s been almost half a year since it was announced that Peter Do was leaving Helmut Lang after under two years as creative director and, even though his collections got mixed reviews from critics and fans alike for Do’s creative approach to the brand, we’ve been thinking: was Peter Do’s Helmut Lang overhated?
Before joining Helmut Lang, Peter Do was getting a lot of hype and praise from critics for his eponymous brand - even being labelled as “the greatest hope” for New York fashion and being nominated for several fashion awards. He seemed like the perfect fit to revive the label, especially with his signature style of subverted minimalism that shares a lot of similarities with Lang’s OG work.
The problem is Helmut Lang is so deeply rooted in its archive and the cult following that comes from it that trying to revive the brand starts becoming an impossible task. You can’t overly reference the archive even though that’s what people are constantly chasing because that shows unoriginality, just as much as innovating and bringing a new perspective would anger the purists.
It all stems from the anti-fashion nature of the brand that made it so appealing in the context of the ‘90s. Lang said, “f*ck that,” to the opulent maximalism in fashion back then by putting t-shirts and paint-splattered jeans on the runway, earning him a loyal fanbase that’s stronger than ever and wouldn’t settle for anything less.
Peter Do was really starting to come into his own with every new collection at Helmut Lang, refining his narrative of New York’s uniform and becoming more tasteful with how he meshed his own DNA with Lang’s. But no matter what Do designed or how much he referenced the archive, it’s impossible to replicate the context that made Lang’s work so impactful in the first place. If Do can’t revive Helmut, then maybe no one can.
Featured image via Getty©
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