Designer Peter Som sketched future at a young age

Tag : Organza Fabric
Designer Peter Som sketched future at a young age Source: AP Posted: 08/20/08 1:11PM Filed Under: Lifestyle Features
Peter Som was a shy kid, one who would sketch to create his ownfantasy world. He'd draw women - always women - in fantasticoutfits and then try to put them in motion with strokes of hispencil, imagining how these beautiful clothes would fit into theirlives.
Now with his own fashion label and a full year as creative directorof Bill Blass under his belt, Som no longer wonders: He sees hisfeminine styles float down the runway at New York Fashion Week andthen, better yet, down the street.
"I see my clothes on the street and they look different than Irecall, but different isn't bad. It's exciting to me to see whatthey do, how they wear it, what they wear it with," Som says.
Som's intention is to offer women clothes that make them feelbeautiful. He hopes he's taken care of the details - flatteringlines, the fit of the shoulder - long before they ever see thegarment. He wouldn't want his customer to have to worry about thosethings.
"The Peter Som look is romantic, it's a little dreamy. My girlis a little bit of a `head-in-the-clouds' kind of girl... has herhead in the clouds. There's a beauty, a lightness about her,"he says.
Som seems to think about his "girl" a lot. The primarydecoration in his neat office are bulletin boards covered withphotos, clippings, swatches and notes that will influence his nextcollection.
He's a bit of a workaholic - and a bit of a perfectionist - butthere comes a point, he says, when the California boy inside himcomes out and convinces the Type A fashion guy to relax. He'll hitthe beach (favorites are St. Bart's and Fire Island) and cook up ameal for friends.
Cooking is becoming a passion, and he says he makes a darn goodminestrone soup with pistou. His newest challenge is teachinghimself to bake: "I like the precision that goes intopies."
Som, 37, grew up in San Francisco with architect parents who weresupportive of his longtime interest in fashion. "My parentswere creative and they encouraged my creativity - there was nopressure to be a doctor or a lawyer."
He can see the influences of their aesthetic in the clean lines ofhis own designs, but he strives to also add an ethereal vibe. Heuses touches of airy organza or chiffon to lighten a structuredsilhouette or a muted color to an otherwise severe style.
Suze Yalof Schwartz, Glamour magazine's executive fashion editor atlarge, says she likes that Som's clothes have an underlyingedginess. It's a look she describes as "Upper East Side meetsSoho."
"I really appreciate his aesthetic for mixing something that'sdurable with something dainty - and then a tough shoe. ... I likehow he took winter florals and mixed them with little leatherjackets. He's really appealing to the entire world of women, notlimiting his collection to young girls or older women, or a certainstyle," Yalof Schwartz says.
For fall, Som was inspired by the hit TV show "Mad Men"and the slick world of 1960s advertising it portrays as well as thework of photographer Diane Arbus, who would intentionally shootthings askew.
"Everything was a little off-center - not quite perfect -which is really the whole point of finding beauty inimperfection," he says.
Som studied art at Connecticut College before landing in New York.His first industry job was as a receptionist with a company calledBritish Khaki. Answering the phone can be a lot harder than itlooks, he says with a laugh: "You need a tough skin."
Next came design jobs with Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and Blass,working with the late designer whose shoes he'd fill years later.He set the goal to open his own company by the time he was 30.
"When you're young, you think 30 is the age that you shouldhave your stuff together," he explains.
Needless to say, Som felt a sense of accomplishment when the PeterSom label opened for business when he was still 29. But thenreality struck. "I was sooo naive. I had no five-year plan, nobusiness partner, no clue. I was running on passion anddrive."
His first sale didn't go so smoothly either. He made jersey mohairtops - "Don't ask!" he implores - but he didn't think toask the factory to preshrink the fabric. The tops he shipped weretiny.
Fast-forward to the present and Som has a business partner. He hasa 10-year plan that includes designing accessories and expandinginternationally. He will soon preview his spring collection; thelook will be a sultrier style than he's done in the past as hetakes his "girl" on a trip to India and Morocco.
He thinks it's the direction that fashion is heading and he'sexcited about the new season, but, he says, he can't confidentlypredict trends.
"I wish I could - then I'd be living on a beach in theBahamas," he says. "We do our homework, but success isdefinitely not a science."