Peter Do’s Helmut Lang Revival
Review of Helmut Lang Spring 2024 Fashion Show
By Mario Abad
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
While Peter Do played with several archival references in the show — cutout tanks, bubble skirts, indigo denim — he made sure to incorporate elements from his own background as a queer Vietnamese-American designer. In lieu of show notes, Do offered up a poem by the essayist Ocean Vuong in which he muses on things like cars, the American dream, and family — a voiceover of which opened the soundtrack of the show.
THE BUZZWORDS
Referential, Personal, Tailoring
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look # 1
The first look captured Do’s intentions and approach the best and set the tone for the rest of the show’s emphasis on tailoring. The magenta seat belt running through and wrapping around the model is a subtle nod to the flashes of color Lang himself injected into his palette of mostly neutral colors. The model carried a book by Ocean Vuong, a fellow Vietnamese-American creative.
THE DIRECTION
The set was a minimalist, industrial space that was blank save for excerpts from Vuong’s essay projected on the runway prior to the show. Earlier this week, the brand teased the show with taxi cabs featuring Helmut Lang’s logo (he was the first designer in the ’90s to advertise on cabs), prints of which appeared in the collection.
THE WRAP UP
Helmut Lang has gone through several iterations since Fast Retailing bought the brand from Prada in 2005, a year after Helmut Lang the designer walked away from his label. There have been “editor-in-residences,” one-off collections like the one designer by Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver, and reissues of iconic Helmut Lang pieces, but the brand has never really taken off or reached the level of relevancy it enjoyed in the ’90s and early aughts. Peter Do’s appointment earlier this year, a designer who’s hailed as one of the most promising and exciting new American talents, signaled the company’s ambitions to make the brand relevant again among fashion insiders, Lang acolytes, and casual shoppers alike. The collection’s sharp suiting, crisp shirts, and stiff denim are a foundation upon which Do would do well to build on as he continues to leave his mark on the heritage label.
