Is Peter Copping – copping out?
Creative director of Oscar de la Renta, Peter Copping, has decided to, quite abruptly, exit the fashion house. Late last night, Copping released a statement that said, “After almost two years at Oscar de la Renta, personal circumstances require me to return to Europe. I have loved my time in New York where I hope to return at some point in the future.”
How are reps at Oscar de la Renta handling the sudden departure? They’re backing the ominous and purposely vague statement with a few politically correct statements of their own.
Alex Bolen, chief executive officer of Oscar de la Renta, said in a statement, “We have always been in the business of creating beautiful clothes and two of our greatest assets are our design studio and atelier. Our team will continue to work on next season’s collection with a keen focus on the level of sophistication and craftsmanship that are the hallmarks of our house. We wish Peter well in his future endeavors.”
Obviously, this beating around the bush is killing us. We want to know why. After mapping Maria Chiuri’s exit from Valentino for months, we’re keen to believe these fashion house departures need more than a two weeks notice. So, could it be that there’s a familial emergency Copping needs to attend to? Or, perhaps, does it have to do with the designers recent runway flops for the fashion house?
Copping was the first designer to take over the atelier following the death of de la Renta in October of 2014. Since then, Copping has solely produced three collections for the fashion house, even though the brand intended on a more cohesive process with de la Renta acting as a mentor throughout Copping’s induction.
Bolen noted that although Copping was not able to complete his first season alongside de la Renta, the fashion house was confident in his skills. Copping worked closely with a number of de la Renta’s fabric mills, embroiderers and knit factories. Vogue.com also reports that even prior to Copping’s hiring, he said of Oscar, “We shared a lot of common territory,” continuing, “The sort of woman we appreciate, and going beyond that, gardens, homes, all of that sort of thing: We speak the same language.”
Same language, but perhaps, a few grammatical errors. While de la Renta was known for his lengthy runway shows, featuring a total of 70 looks, Copping produced only 55 for his debut show. And with his most recent collection falling flat as well, it brings into question the details of Copping’s ‘personal circumstances.’ Perhaps, the fashion house couldn’t handle another near miss on the runway.
This would be a low blow to an otherwise stellar resume for Copping, who left Nina Ricci after working as artistic director for five years. Prior to that, Copping worked 12 years for Louis Vuitton as studio director under Marc Jacobs. Now, Copping hardly makes the two-year mark at Oscar de la Renta. We have to assume something else is going on.
At this time, however, there is no information regarding Copping’s ‘future endeavors.’ But, at least we’re aware, the fashion house wishes him well as he remedies a few personal circumstances.
Stay tuned for updates.
