Peter Dundas: People always ask me, "Oh, do you ever want to start you...

When I make a dress that someone wants to put on and somebody else wants to take off, then I know I've got it right. Because when someone looks good on the outside, they'll feel good on the inside.

Peter Dundas

feel-good

I think my biggest muses in fashion are probably rock 'n' roll girlfriends, like Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull and Bianca Jagger - and then maybe Patti Smith a bit as well.

Peter Dundas

fashion girlfriend thinking

I want Pucci woman to be a Pucci girl. That's number one, because I think she should have that vibe that corresponds with today. Emilio Pucci - the house is, I think, 63 years old now. It's an old house. The Pucci woman from the beginning would be 80 years old or something today, so I've kind of had to update her.

Peter Dundas

girl house thinking

I think a lot of people, when they think about the house, they think of the print. But when people think about Emilio Pucci, I want them to think about this really, really hot girl, so my biggest job is to give her a face and an identity - and I do that by trying to associate that kind of print that people have in their minds with a kind of girl who is free-spirited, rebellious, a little bit rock 'n' roll, and who has a lot of energy, who is up.

Peter Dundas

girl people thinking

Working for an older house is a great opportunity, but it's also a big responsibility. The fortunes of a lot of people and families are based on what the results of my collections are, and how successful they are on a commercial level, and how big an impact they have on a trade level as well. So I think I'm a little bit more chill about that.

Peter Dundas

successful responsibility opportunity

In order to be successful, you have to honor what's in old fashion house, but you also have to play with it and push the limits of it.

Peter Dundas

fashion successful house

For me, coming to a fashion house and bringing my love and respect to it - and, hopefully, earning the love and respect of the house - is the only way to do it. I think of it as my own house in that sense as well. So I like not working from a blank piece of paper. I like that there's something from the past, some kind of identity that I have to work with. There are these good ghosts around, these good energies that kind of reinforce what you do.

Peter Dundas

fashion past thinking

Working in the old fashion house is like how your parents raise you and give you this base, and you eventually grow up and have to say, "Well, you gave me this, but now I need to go my own way." So, more than finding a balance, it's about taking the good parts of what you've been given and bringing your own thing to it in order to take it all somewhere else - and hopefully, forward.

Peter Dundas

growing-up fashion giving

That's always my downfall - when I start not having fun or not feeling passionate about what I'm doing. But that's why I love Emilio Pucci. There are some design houses that operate on a more intellectual level, but the way Pucci has always worked is more spontaneous and instinctual.

Peter Dundas

design house fun

I spend tons of time on the music for the fashion shows. I work with this DJ, Jeremy Healy, and we do, like, four or five sessions during the week leading up to the show where we put the music together.

Peter Dundas

week fashion together

I'm incapable of functioning without music. I've always had it in my life. I played the violin when I was a kid, and my mother was a violinist at that point, so it's always been important to me in one way or another. When I work, there's always music cranking.

Peter Dundas

important mother kids

Florence is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. It's very quiet as well - there's not much nightlife - so it definitely keeps me focused on the work.

Peter Dundas

focused beautiful quiet

Paris is one of the most incredible places to live. Once you get bitten by the city, you never leave.

Peter Dundas

incredibles

I feel like I have to go back to Paris every so often. It just grows on you - the look of the city, the way people hang out there. If you're in Europe, it's good for that.

Peter Dundas

hanging-out people

Emilio Pucci obviously I think it's one of the best houses in Italy - and one of the most legendary ones as well. That's why I came here. I also like the idea of working with a house that has a history that you can collaborate and exchange ideas with in the way you would with another person.

Peter Dundas

legendary house thinking

I'm not intellectual at all as a designer. Whatever I'm into at the moment is usually what becomes the collection.

Peter Dundas

designer moments intellectual

The year before was my first collection for Emilio Pucci, and I was just starting the job and working in his Renaissance Palazzo, where Pucci is headquartered, so that inspired me. I found this image in the book. It was an old image of Emilio Pucci hanging out by the seaside with all of these women, and that's exactly how I used to think about this house - more of a lifestyle thing. This beautiful life. So I'm really working on that.

Peter Dundas

beautiful book thinking

I'm really working on trying to get that lifestyle aspect of the Emilio Pucci house to be as strong as possible.

Peter Dundas

strong house trying

It's important for me to really play with the traditions and keep things simple and easy. Ultimately I believe in animal instincts - I think they often end up winning out.

Peter Dundas

winning animal believe

Things are moving quicker and quicker. The internet age has made everything so immediate that what you're doing can start to feel outdated. That's probably the single thing that will most affect the fashion system in the near future. Time is the biggest subject matter in fashion today.

Peter Dundas

fashion age moving

People always ask me, "Oh, do you ever want to start your own thing?" And I don't, actually. I think what I enjoy most is the sort of co-production of things, where you bring something and somebody else brings something and a kind of alchemy happens.