The Peter Pilotto house at Brompton Design District could be a case study for how art imitates life. When the duo behind the popular London fashion label was invited to decorate one of the historic Victorian homes along Cromwell Place in Kensington (the first fashion designers to receive such an invitation), they approached it as a collaborative installation, tapping into their network of friends in creative disciplines ranging from ceramics to furniture design. The group includes Bethan Laura Wood, with whom they codesigned pastel-hued light fixtures; artist Peter McDonald; glassblower Jochen Holz; furniture designer Martino Gamper; artist Francis Upritchard; and the dealers behind antique store Schmid McDonagh. “We wanted to echo that energy we feel when we visit our friends' studios and homes,” says Peter Pilotto of his and partner Christopher de Vos’s mission. “Everyone collects each other’s work. The girls often wear our clothes. It’s kind of the real story of how our collections are inspired to be.” He adds of the synergy between his and de Vos’s designs and the work of their friends, “I think the things work so well together because they’re often created in parallel.”
The house will remain intact through Frieze, after which point some of the product collaborations will be available for purchase on the Peter Pilotto website. AD's style director, Jane Keltner de Valle, sat down with Peter and Christopher to discuss the creative process of decorating a house and designing a fashion collection in tandem.
Jane Keltner de Valle: This is a big project—a multilevel house that’s been fully transformed. When did you get access to it?
Christopher de Vos: It’s been months in the making. But we only got physical access five days before it opened. And that includes adding walls, creating arches, painting, carpeting.
JKdV: You’re the first fashion designers to take part in Brompton Design District. How did the partnership come to be?
Peter Pilotto: Martino [Gamper]'s 100 Chairs were exhibited in Brompton Design District eight or nine years ago, so he introduced us.
CdV: We did a pop-up with them last April, but that happened so quickly because it wasn’t meant to happen yet. We were in talks for September and they told us, "But we have a space right now." But they loved how it looked and loved to see design and fashion mixed in a different context.
JKdV: You have collaborated with many of these designers and artists on a smaller scale in the past. Can you speak about the creative conversation between all of you?
PP: It’s this natural synergy between everyone. We wanted to bring together the works of all our friends to show what inspires and surrounds us and our brand. And to echo that energy that we feel when we visit our friends’ studios and homes, because everyone collects each other's works, the girls often wear our clothes. It’s kind of the real story of how our collections are inspired to be. And that’s why I think the things work so well together here because often they’re created in parallel.
JKdV: Is this the first time you’ve actually collaborated on the design as opposed to just borrowing objects from them?
CdV: Exactly. We’ve collaborated on special items that we’ve designed together with them, whereas before we borrowed things and placed them. These are all custom-made pieces.
PP: For example, Jochen Holz does beautiful glasses and jars. We collaborated on jewelry for the fall collection, and now we collaborated on objects for the first time. And the paintings are by our friend Peter McDonald. He paints whatever he experiences, so these were actually when he came to our studio with his girlfriend. He painted the Martino Gamper stools and the mood boards. The studio is all white and concrete, but he always adds color. We looked at his colors a lot for the colors of the collection and obviously this space.
CdV: It’s funny because we designed these cushions using a fabric we developed for a collection and then didn’t use. The pillows were done without our knowing about the paintings, and they’re the same colors. So there’s this synergy somehow. We all loved that the objects are not in the usual gallery context.
PP: Usually you see design in empty spaces in a gallery. For us, it was so important to have this context. They all complement each other so much. We find it so important that it is all one universe. So that’s what we tried to express.
CdV: We’re so fascinated by textiles, so it’s a natural progression of what we do. It’s nice to see that that sensibility can be applied to home and lifestyle. All the colors relate to our spring show. We just went to Japan, which was really mind-blowing. We did a road trip. We avoided the big cities, except Kyoto, and went into the countryside.
PP: We stayed with a ceramic artist in the mountains outside Kyoto. We did Ikebana lessons. It was so inspiring to see this perfect-imperfect stuff. We came back with lots of ceramics.
JKdV: Travel is another constant source of inspiration for you. How else does that idea tie into the house?
CdV: One of the walls is painted a color that reminds me of lucuma, a fruit that’s native to Peru, where my family is from. Then we found some of the pile rugs in Morocco.
PP: It’s a melting pot of cultures. There are so many influences.
JKdV: This opened the same day you presented your spring collection during London Fashion Week. How did you manage to juggle these two big endeavors simultaneously?
PP: It was nice creatively to do this and the collection together. They really feed on each other.
CdV: It’s very natural. It’s also a moment in time where one needs to think, What do you do beyond the fashion show? Everybody’s talking about it, and this is part of our way of thinking what is relevant for Peter Pilotto. Plus, it’s something that makes us happy and excited.
PP: It’s fun to get to spend more time with our friends.
