Peter Do Shares His Love of Leather for Second Ecco.Kollektive Capsule

Still absent from the New York Fashion Week calendar, Peter Do has resurfaced just ahead of its Sept. 6 start to rejoin the Ecco.Kollektive, bringing his minimalist touch to a second line of shoes and handbags.

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The Helmut Lang creative director is accompanied by fellow Ecco.Kollektive sophomores Kiko Kostadinov and Nina Christen, whose capsules will be released individually. His is available Wednesday with prices ranging from $425 to $2,155.

This is the fourth edition of Ecco.Kollektive, rebranded from At.Kollektive in January. A subsidiary of Ecco Leather, the collaborative platform champions research and development into one of fashion’s favorite textiles by allowing designers free rein at its tannery and workshops in the Netherlands.

But according to Do, it was the constraint, not the freedom, of homing in on a single material that first attracted him to the project. The designer, who began using leather to accent his tailoring, said: “It has a toughness that adds a nice contrast when you mix it with something like muslin or cotton.…I always liked this hybrid of something casual with something formal.”

Expanding on that idea, Do revisited the sporty rubber sole he codeveloped with Ecco the first time around — appropriately named “the Hybrid” — and toyed with a multitude of dressy leather uppers.

These “shoe archetypes,” as Do called them, include ankle- and knee-high versions of the square-toe monster platforms that have become his signature as well as side-zip wellies and drawcord sneakers. New to the mix are a slick pair of men’s loafers and a rugged ballerina flat. Both are easy to walk in, waterproof and have “this sort of futuristic feel,” Do noted.

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Sticking to a limited palette of black, ecru and burgundy allowed Do to push further into the textural manipulation of leather. “We wanted something that feels aged and lived in, so the [Ecco] team did a lot of trials to get to this crushed look,” he said.

While the majority of footwear styles took a beating, the structured Lydia bags in high-gloss patent have a fresh-from-the-dust bag quality with oval-shaped clasps that put the “O” in Peter Do, the designer explained.

Do will not be returning for Ecco.Kollektive’s fifth season, which will promote leather wares from Craig Green, Louis-Gabriel Nouchi and Ottolinger, but the material will likely star in upcoming collections for both Lang and his namesake brand, which he’s chosen again to showcase during Paris Fashion Week.

Working with leather can be costly and labor intensive, Do admitted, but “when you do it right, it’s beautiful and lasts forever.”

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