Slightly reserved and dressed in a neat cobalt-blue shirt worn under a sport coat and trousers, Peter Pilotto’s look during our interview at the St. Regis was far from the printed and playful designs he and his design partner Christopher de Vos are known for.

 

“We like to be more neutral,” said Peter. “We think it’s important we put all our energy and desire for fashion into our women’s wear brand.”

 

The design duo met while studying at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium and immediately formed a tight bond that continues to translate to their work.

 

Healthy competition

 

We realized that each other’s work was very inspiring for the other and it pushed us to work harder,” said Peter. “It’s a healthy kind of competition that’s very stimulating… each other’s opinion was what we cared a lot about.”

 

As he graduated a year ahead of Christopher, Peter “started the brand right away because stores like Maria Luisa and others wanted to buy my graduation collection.”

 

Christopher joined in 2007 and they decided to keep the brand’s name so as not to confuse the stores that already carried the line. “We decided to always explain that it’s the two of us and it’s just in my name,” noted Peter.

 

In school, while Christopher mulled on whether to take architecture or fashion, and Peter contemplated between graphic design and fashion, Christopher constructed the shapes of their designs and Peter usually developed the prints.

 

“He has a 3D approach and I have a 2D approach… yet we work on everything together because you can’t really take the two things apart,” said Peter. “It’s always a dialogue anyway.”

 

Their brand, known for its eye-catching yet understated prints and modern silhouettes, continues to reflect the duo’s interests.

 

“We just follow our instinct… when you do something that’s very authentic to yourself, that’s what your signature becomes,” enthused Peter.

 

This year, the brand’s Fall-Winter 2013 collection show was one of the Audi Fashion Festival’s main events at the recently held Asia Fashion Exchange in Singapore.

 

Guests came in droves, eager to watch the twosome’s latest collection for their first-ever show in Asia.

 

Huge following

 

Said Peter: “Three trips to Asia inspired some of our collections… Japan’s light trucks, Indonesia’s tropical plants and Beijing’s great textiles.”

 

He added that since Singapore’s Club 21 (a multilabel concept boutique) is one of their significant retail partners in Asia, it was only “a natural thing for us to come here.”

 

The Pilotto brand has certainly gained a huge following among various notable personalities, from celebrities Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller and Kate Bosworth, supermodel Miranda Kerr and singer Rihanna, to US First Lady Michelle Obama.

“From the very beginning, our retailers have told us that it’s quite unusual that a new brand attracts so many different customers,” said Peter.

 

Their collections have been inspired not only by their travels, but also by their dear friends, like one who hails from Japan and is in her 30s, and another who’s German and is in her 60s.

 

“It’s very different women that we found fascinating, so I think that, with imagination and strengths, you can look great at every age,” explained Peter.

 

Their current collection, which was inspired by the works of Spanish renaissance artist El Greco, was quite moody as it reflected the artist’s dark paintings, but “had a lot of glowing light like a biblical scene.”

 

It offers not only prints in interesting hues, but also solids and a lot of embroidery.

 

“We liked the idea of illumination, that the print had something glowing in the image itself,” said Peter.

 

There was a play on masculine and feminine codes as well, with curvy, ladylike silhouettes and cutout details contrasting with boxy coats.

 

On being a British brand, Peter said: “We’re not British and we didn’t study there, but they really welcomed us.”

 

He added, “It’s the best decision we ever took… We were simply attracted to London because we think it’s one of the most interesting places in Europe.”

 

Pilotto has certainly grown by leaps and bounds since it first started with just a team of 12.

 

“Now we have 34 plus freelancers… That’s about 40 in the studio and the line is carried in around 220 stores in 50 countries,” said Peter. “We’ve also added new categories like knitwear, embroidery, and we want to do much more.”

 

When it comes to creating their prints, Peter and Christopher make everything from scratch and usually take two months to create them with about a hundred print files.

 

“We always like that the lines are on the perfect spot of the body, so we develop our fabric then we make the garments,” said Peter.

 

He added, “We like that every dress gets a chance to have its own life, in a way.”

 

As a relatively young brand, the design duo looks up to “every designer who has made it for years.”

 

“Everybody who makes it one way or the other is admirable because it’s so hard,” said Peter. “It’s very demanding but also refreshing, so you can never rest.”

 

As the interview came to an end, the obviously exhausted yet still pleasant and passionate Peter said, “You have to find yourself, where your strengths lie, and go for that. Find your handwriting, then let it evolve.”