Farfetch unveils collaboration with Opening Ceremony and Peter Do

Luxury e-tailer Farfetch has unveiled the first iteration of its year-round Beat programme featuring a collaboration with Opening Ceremony and Peter Do.

Farfetch Beat is a new concept that introduces exclusive curated product collaborations “with the most progressive voices in fashion and culture to an international audience,” via exclusive, limited-edition releases only available on Farfetch.

In the press release, Farfetch said that the concept would utilise an “unconstrained and ad-hoc drop schedule,” and has been designed to highlight how the e-tailer gives its customers access to luxury products, brands, and services, which it states, “cannot be found elsewhere in luxury fashion”.

Holli Rogers, chief brand officer at Farfetch, said in a statement: “We came up with the concept of Farfetch Beat pre-Covid 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.

“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.”

Farfetch Beat launches first drop featuring Opening Ceremony and Peter Do

For Beat 001, Opening Ceremony’s iconic varsity jacket has been reimagined by designer Peter Do as part of Opening Ceremony’s ongoing 20-anniversary celebration.

The Opening Ceremony x Peter Do collection features three takes on the iconic OC varsity jacket. Two styles have been fabricated in Do’s ubiquitous “spacer” material, one in black and one in white, while a third has been made using upcycled parachute material from Do’s first catwalk show.

Each of the pieces has been numbered to reference their limited quantity and presented in a one-of-a-kind Opening Ceremony x Peter Do cotton mousseline tote bag. The jackets also have a cardholder hidden in the jacket pocket along with a handwritten note from Open Ceremony co-founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim and Peter Do.

Commenting on the collaboration, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, co-founders and creative directors of Opening Ceremony, said: “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.”

Designer Peter Do, added: “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.

“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.”

To showcase the project, Farfetch tapped Katsu Naito to shoot a portrait series that brings together the teams, friends, and collaborators of both brands for a modern, combined “family portrait”. The cast includes Humberto Leon, Carol Lim, Peter Do, Christine Sun Kim, Maia Ruth Lee, Jawara Wauchoupe, Angela Dimayuga and Alan Kim, amongst others.

The Opening Ceremony x Peter Do collection is available exclusively to Farfetch with prices ranging from 460 to 655 pounds.