Opening Ceremony x Peter Do Is First Collaboration for Farfetch Beat
Lisa Lockwood
6 min read
Farfetch Ltd. has introduced Farfetch Beat, a concept retail series that introduces exclusive product experiences in collaboration with progressive voices in fashion and culture. First up is a collaboration between Opening Ceremony and Peter Do, which launches exclusively on Farfetch on Wednesday.
“We are so excited to kick off Farfetch Beat with an exclusive collaboration between Opening Ceremony and Peter Do. We came up with the concept of Farfetch Beat pre-COVID[-19] as we knew our global luxury customers wanted access to exclusive pieces with a story behind them and this is exactly what this collaboration encapsulates,” said Holli Rogers, chief brand officer of Farfetch.
“We believe that the emotion you get from finding rare pieces that you can cherish for years to come is just as strong as ever. Opening Ceremony and Peter Do have always driven vital conversations in fashion, consistently putting their family first and celebrating a coming together of cultures. This exclusive Farfetch Beat collaboration is an expression of all those shared values,” added Rogers.
It brings together two generations of Asian creativity built upon shared values to put family first, share cultural pride, and challenge the status quo in the fashion industry.
In 2020, Farfetch’s New Guards Group purchased Opening Ceremony, which was known for acting as brand, retailer and collaborator. They decided to close their four physical stores in New York (two units), Los Angeles and Tokyo and focus on their wholesale and e-commerce business.
The Opening Ceremony x Peter Do collection features three takes on the signature OC varsity jacket: two fabricated in Do’s well known “spacer” material, one in black and one in white, and a third in upcycled parachute material from his first runway show. The pieces, numbered to reference their limited quantity, include a cardholder hidden in each jacket pocket and are presented in a one-of-a-kind Opening Ceremony x Peter Do cotton mousse linen tote bag.
Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, co-founders and creative directors of Opening Ceremony, said in a statement, “Opening Ceremony has always been a pioneer in concept retail. We’re excited to be able to bring that approach to online retail with Farfetch Beat. For us, Peter Do exemplifies the best in New York fashion today, and we found so much similarity in how our shared Asian heritage informs everything we both create. The Peter Do team inspires us with their incredible design skill and knowledge. We’re so excited we finally get to collaborate with our friends on this fresh take on our beloved varsity jacket.”
Born in Vietnam, Do immigrated to the suburbs of Philadelphia at 14. He studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and was the recipient of the inaugural 2014 LVMH Graduate Prize. Before establishing his own label with a group of friends in 2018, Do worked at Celine and Derek Lam. Do was nominated last year for American Womenswear Designer of the Year by the CFDA.
“We came into the project knowing that we wanted to recreate one of Opening Ceremony’s icons and the varsity jacket has played such an important role in the brand’s history. We had so many vintage military parachutes left over from our first show and I thought it would be nice to repurpose them to give them new life,” said Do.
“I love that the jackets are all different, with the original seams and printed text included. I’m so happy that these jackets will be worn and loved, and that they came from something that was initially meant to be discarded but are now repurposed. I am thrilled that our collaboration is launching as part of such a progressive project as Farfetch Beat. We need more experimentation like this in our industry,” said Do.
Do said he has always looked up to Leon and Lim and what they’ve built with Opening Ceremony.
“I have so many fond memories of OC: I bought my first designer item there, used to carry my school supplies in the tote and our team used to hang out at the store on the weekend even though we couldn’t really afford to buy anything,” said Do. “OC remains an important part of our lives as New Yorkers, and while I’m sad the store is no longer with us, I will treasure the memories and friendship I made in that corner of SoHo forever.”
To highlight the collaboration, an accompanying portrait series, shot by Katsu Naito, features the teams, friends and collaborators of both brands for a modern, combined “family portrait.” The cast includes Leon, Lim, Do, Christine Sun Kim, Maia Ruth Lee, Jawara Wauchoupe, Angela Dimayuga and Alan Kim, among others.
In discussing how frequently new collaborations will be introduced, Rogers told WWD that the program is seasonless and experimental in nature “so some releases will be very spontaneous, and others may require more time to develop.”
“We like the flexibility of Farfetch Beat and think customers are also looking for that element of surprise and delight. It is about a product with a story and the meaning behind them. The collaborations will land on Farfetch on an ad-hoc basis which is what makes Farfetch Beat so exciting and unique,” she said.
Different partners will be chosen each time.
When asked how the partnership between Farfetch, Opening Ceremony and Do came together, Rogers said, “We have been talking with Carol and Humberto since the idea of Farfetch Beat began as Opening Ceremony has been pioneers in concept retail so they felt like the perfect partners to launch this project. The Peter Do and Opening Ceremony collaboration came from a very personal and beautiful relationship between the designers, and the influence that Carol and Humberto had on Peter early in his career. We love what they both stand for and how they have pushed forward Asian visibility and excellence in fashion. Their values are the core of what Farfetch Beat represents and it was a perfect organic fit for all of us.”
Rogers noted that each release is limited-edition and available only on Farfetch. It is a one-time only capsule. “When it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said.
The jackets range from $690 for the black and white one in Do’s “spacer” materials and go up to $1,005 for the upcycled parachute one.
Describing how Farfetch Beat will distinguish their platform, she said, “We know our customers are looking for exclusive, rare and curated items that will be part of fashion history, and that’s why we want to offer them. It allows us to open up authentic and meaningful conversation with some of the most progressive voices in fashion and culture today — to incubate new concepts, experiment with product releases and explore innovative ways to launch them — which feels exciting to us and most importantly for our customer.”
According to Rogers, Farfetch Beat will have its own landing page on the Farfetch web site and is being promoted with a fully social-first approach. There will be original creative commissions, community engagements and both on and offline activations. “It is about the power of product stories and new ways to engage audiences with them,” she said.
