Peter Dundas Launches Eponymous Brand

[reese06]

I'm all for him starting his own line. I do think his aesthetic is defined enough for his own label. Good for him.

Hopefully it's more along the lines of what he did for Ungaro, Pucci and his first stint in the early 2000s at Cavalli. I'm excited to see what he will do.

 

[arlekindearrabal]

I am excited to see what he'll come up with. I wish several other talented designers now (sadly) unemployed or helming luxury behemoths would follow his lead...

 

[Nymphaea]

Peter Dundas, the Man Behind Beyoncé’s Unforgettable Grammys Dress, Is Launching His Eponymous Collection in Paris

After 10 years in the creative director chair at Emanuel Ungaro, Emilio Pucci, and Roberto Cavalli, Peter Dundas is launching his eponymous label with a capsule collection for Moda Operandi at the Paris haute couture shows. But he isn’t going solo. As Yves Saint Laurent had Pierre Bergé and Valentino had Giancarlo Giammetti, Dundas has Evangelo Bousis, his partner in life turned partner in business. You’ve seen them on the red carpet together with Kim and Kanye, EmRata, and model pals like Natasha Poly. Dundas has designed the capsule line he’s presenting on Sunday with those glamorous types in mind. “It’s quite a few dresses, he says, “that’s what my girls want.”

But if the cut-up-to-there, with a train out-to-there silhouette of the gown pictured here is pure Dundas, the way he’s gone about producing this collection—with his hands in every aspect of development, and stacking up more air miles than he knows what to do with—is something new. “I’ve worked at relaunching three established brands now and I’ve enjoyed doing that, but at this moment, doing something completely new seems fresher to me, and in many ways seems easier,” he says. “I’m learning a lot.”

We’ll learn what the Dundas collection looks like on Sunday evening. Here, he talked about the pros and cons of starting over (it’s mostly pros) and the Beyoncé Grammys dress that got the ball rolling.

I saw on Instagram you were in Mumbai a few days ago. For embroideries?
Yes, I’ve been every place and seen every person connected with this project. I haven’t been to India for work ever, though I’ve been for holidays. It was great to connect with the handcrafters. I really want to take the opportunity this first time around to see how things are done, to connect with people, and to make sure they understand what I want, and I understand their process, too. And I’m learning, as well. I don’t usually go to shoe factories, and this time I’ve been several times. I want to make sure the shoes are right, and I want the suppliers to know who I am.

So, what do you want? This is the first time you’re designing under your own name.
I’ve been trying to be intuitive and follow my instincts. That’s probably the biggest way that this feels different: because I’m trying to do something that follows my language 100 percent. The beginning for me was Beyoncé [Dundas designed her Grammys performance dress], that was the first drop. This is an organic continuation of what we started, having drops every few months [he also designed Emily Ratajkowski’s Cannes gown]. This Moda Operandi capsule is part of the whole. Afterward, I’m doing something else with Farfetch. So little by little, we’re gathering layers.

Is the Beyoncé dress a good indicator of the sensibility of Dundas? Is it evening-focused? Because you’re also a great tailor, so I’m wondering what the mix will be.
This is an image moment, so yes, it’s going to be things my girls will be really into: for sure some special occasion things that make you feel like you’re the only girl in the room, but also tailoring. This process has been about connecting with my girls. We’re starting on Moda. A lot of my girlfriends shop there, and Lauren [Santo Domingo, Moda’s founder] is a friend of our as well. We’re starting with that, but I want to reach other places as well. I’ve had amazing support from department stores and multi-brand stores; that will be the next step.

I like that image, feeling like you’re the only girl in the room. Can you elaborate on the Dundas aesthetic?
There’s definitely a sensuality to it, a joy of life. Hopefully there’s an element of glamour, an element of freedom, of rebelliousness. Confidence. A little of a bohemian hippie girl. I like to make women feel seductive. That’s why I love cut and embellishments that make you shine.

How has it been getting a company off the ground on your own? Have you enjoyed it? Has it been challenging?
I’ve enjoyed it very much. But I’m not doing it alone, I’m doing it with my partner, Evangelo. We started talking about it because a friend proposed investing in it. We thought, maybe down the line. Then he moved to Milan to be with me when I took the Cavalli job, and we realized we complement each other very well, not just personally, but also professionally. This time around, it was essential to me to do it with somebody who has my back, and whose back I have as well. Of course, it’s been challenging, but we’ve also had a lot of fun with it. It requires a lot of work to turn an established company and make it a modern one. In a way, having a blank sheet but having the experience I’ve been lucky enough to have so far in my career is a nice combination. Today, there’s so many established companies that are struggling to adapt to the times in terms of agility and versatility that I really don’t think a new company is at more of a disadvantage than an established company.

It’s so refreshing to see a living designer’s name on a label!
I agree. My brother-in-law has a tech company in America, and he and his friends have been really inspiring to us. You have so many companies who are thinking outside of the box and creating successes, and it just feels like fashion is lagging behind, even at the basic level in terms of launching new brands. Up until now there’s been a fear of that. [At an established brand] when you want to change deliveries and seasons . . . first of all, even convincing people to do it is very challenging. And the possible economic implications scare people as well, whereas with this we can basically set the clock ourselves. And move step by step so we can grow organically.

What comes next?
I want to see how this goes. Right now it’s been nice to own everything that we do. It’s something I was missing from what I was doing before. So, you understand every cost, every investment on a project. It teaches you a lot, and I probably should have done it years ago. We want to own the project, so therefore, we’re taking our time.

You seem quite e-commerce focused? Why is that?
It’s definitely part of the strategy. We’ll have an online store way before we have a bricks-and-mortar store. With people’s busy lives, e-commerce is only going to get more important. Pop up stores, that I do like. That is something that we are working on. All this technology that’s part of the modern approach, for me, the main objective of all of it is to make a closer relationship with me and this girl. That’s why I want to do this. I want to make sure that she hears my language. That the message reaches home. I learned years ago that it was important to spend time with my girls, understand the life they lead, and why they’re into certain things or not into them anymore. We would like to consider ourselves a lifestyle brand as much as a fashion brand, and part of the way to do that is to live that dream, to share that dream, as well.

vogue

 

[Nymphaea]

Peter Dundas: 'The Face of Fashion is Changing'

As Peter Dundas prepares to unveil his own namesake label in Paris on Sunday, he tells BoF about abandoning collections in favour of 'drops' and how that Beyoncé moment came to be.

Peter Dundas is back. Sat in his gold-panelled Art Deco property in London's Notting Hill, the spiritual homeland of the 1970s bohemian set that is a perennial lodestone for the Norwegian-born designer, Dundas and his partner Evangelo Bousis are explaining the finer details of Dundas, the brand they will debut on Sunday in Paris during the couture shows.

The 20 looks will distill the core of Dundas’ continent-hopping aesthetic, and launch exclusively with Moda Operandi on July 7. It will be followed by a partnership with Farfetch in the autumn, which will feature more accessibly-priced jeans, t-shirts and dresses that will complement the high-octane occasion-wear for which Dundas is renowned. The launch comes after Dundas exited his role as creative director of Roberto Cavalli in October last year, which was followed by a succession of personal projects, most notably the custom-made outfits worn by Beyoncé Knowles at the 2017 Grammys.

“You want things your way and to feel comfortable,” says Dundas of his new project. “It’s constantly asking, ‘Is it really me?’ For us, it made sense to start a company from that point of view, where you have a fresh slate to do that and you’re not dependent on or economically burdened by needing to do traditional collections.”

Instead, the brand will be “seasonless” in the sense that it will be released in succinct and carefully timed drops, avoiding the climatic restrictions of traditional seasons. ““We’re not doing these bombastic collections, resort collections with every garment you think you may need," he says. "My woman has always been a nomad. There’s always a place with snow in July and a beach in December.”

Certainly, Dundas' season-free approach reflects a rapidly shifting fashion landscape. "The face of fashion is changing in that sense," he says. "How to express yourself in a way that’s rewarding to yourself but also interesting to the client and to the press. For us, it made sense to start a company from that point of view, where you have a fresh slate to do that."

During his time at Roberto Cavalli, which lasted just over a year, as well as his tenure at Emilio Pucci from 2008 to 2015, Dundas became loved by the international jet-set and countless celebrities. During his time at Pucci, he reinvented the Florentine house, which was once known for its printed silks and resort-wear, into a key luxury brand with a presence at Milan Fashion Week. During his brief time at Cavalli, he established an aesthetic that paid homage to the ‘70s heyday of the Italian brand, complete with references to exotic locations and the rock stars and icons of the era, such as Jimi Hendrix and Talitha Getty — it reached its climax when Beyoncé wore a tiered yellow dress in her music video for “Hold Up” from the Autumn/Winter 2016 collection.

However Dundas is adamant that his new project will not just focus on red-carpet gowns and highly embellished party dresses. “Peter’s girl has so many different levels of being able to access things,” says Bousis, who began unofficially working with Dundas during his tenure at Roberto Cavalli, and remains his partner in business and in life. “We live in an age where things are constantly changing and especially with social media, no one wants to wear the same thing twice. They want to be able to access whatever they can at any price point. You really have to give them that. Just because something is less expensive, doesn’t mean there’s not the wow factor to it.”

Although Dundas is reticent about the sartorial details of his collection, he says it will reflect the lives of the glamorous women that he surrounds himself with, and continue the design narrative he established at Cavalli and Pucci. Dundas and Bousis themselves are constantly on the move, having started the year in Mustique and since flitted between Los Angeles, New York, Italy, Paris, Cannes, Rio, India and Greece. “We travel a lot and we enjoy that and enjoy being in lots of different places,” says Dundas. “Our woman will always get inspiration from places that we’ve seen or she’s seen.”

What marks the ‘Dundas World’ from other newborn brands is that its founders already have a major platform: the red carpet. Dundas and Bousis’ own circle is starry to say the least and earlier this year, Dundas created three custom-made looks for Beyoncé for the 2017 Grammy’s. The result was a different kind of debut that garnered worldwide attention.

“I had previously made multiple costumes for several of her tours, so we know each other very well and by chance, her stylist Marni [Senofonte] was at BoF VOICES and we bumped into her,” he explains. “She said, ‘We need to something now, because she’s going to be focusing on her family.'”

It transpired that Knowles was pregnant with twins, a fact still unknown to the world, and Dundas flew to Los Angeles to meet with her. “I’m very good at keeping secrets, so I couldn’t tell my team,” he recalls. "I just gave them the measurements and they were like, ‘Oh you know she’s put some weight on,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, you know, she’s not working right now.’”

The Beyoncé moment was also a great alternative to the fashion calendar as it happened during the womenswear ready-to-wear shows in February. “It kind of matched up in every way for us because I think that the red carpet has been so important for me and it is something that I have a lot of fun with, so it connected with the fashion world in an additional way," he says.

Dundas is currently self-funded, but Dundas and Bousis have been in talks with potential investors. The pair say that they are “far along in conversations" but will wait until after Sunday's presentation to continue them.

“Some of the people that have shown interest in us have shown interest in us because we’re they actually want that fresh point of view, even within their groups that have more established brands,” says Dundas. “For me, today that is also very much what I think gives us the mental and emotional wings to do something like this... I don’t think that you can rely on saying, ‘I’ve been around for 70 years and that’s why we’re such a strong company.’”

Until only a week ago, the team was "three-and-a-half" people and has recently become five. Dundas will continue to work with the same Italian suppliers he previously worked with in Italy, as well as embroiderers in India.

"We’re building the company [like] ... a family," says Bousis. "We don’t want it to be a fashion company that sits in hierarchies and all these people who feel entitled. We want everyone to really feel loved and really love the project and believe in it, that’s kind of the mentality that we have and the mentality that we want to keep."

businessoffashion

 

[mistress_f]

thank god! there was *definitely* a LACK of TACKINESS in fashion at the moment!!!! /s



but i guess if alessandro michele and demna are allowed to whatever the hell they're doing, let peter do peter

 

[Scotty]

I'll take Peter over Michele or Demna any day. As long as it's good like Pucci and Ungaro and not his Cavalli.

 

[Lola701]

I'm intrigued but not excited. From the sound and the look of those two pieces and the sketch, it will be nothing new, classic dundas from Pucci & Cavalli.
He needs to get the mojo of his first Pucci collection. It is still now one of my favorite collection from him.

I feel like Ronald Van Der Kemp is the new way of doing the sexy/tacky/80's stuff well. It looks fresh and exciting when he is doing that.
Dundas's brand of sexy is kinda "been there done that".

But good for him and i hope it will be good.

 

[gossiping]

excited to see. love that shot with natasha

this is the fashion i love that truly lasts not this balenciaga/vetements that looks awful on everyone

 

[YohjiAddict]

He's got a brand of pizzazz that fashion is certainly lacking at the moment and that could definitely make his brand work, however I'm not holding my breath. He's neglected good taste for too long and I no longer think that he's capable of seducing me...also, also it speaks volumes that people are still expecting him to deliver something on par with his F/W 2009, something tells me that will never happen