When Peter Copping was appointed Creative Director of he expected to have plenty of time to learn the ropes. As things turned out, the label's namesake designer died just weeks after Copping took up his role, leaving him to design the alone.
Now, in an interview with WWD, Copping has spoken about the highly emotional experience of creating a collection that both paid tribute to his legendary predecessor and quietly moved the brand forward. 'Fashion is so fast now, so it couldn’t just be an homage to Oscar because you have to state from the word ‘go’ what you see for the brand,' he says.
And it seems that the ODR customers, not to mention industry insiders, liked what they saw. 'It seems like people here are wanting a little bit of newness, as well, even the more traditional clients,' says Copping, adding that sales have increased for the coming season.
As for the future of the brand? Copping is focusing on improving the construction of the labels' pieces and also hints that he may scale back some of its many sister collections that include home, kids and fragrances. 'I know Oscar said, ‘big collection, big business,' he says, 'But sometimes that can just end up as a lot of development costs to quite small quantities at the end. You have to ask, when is it better to just bite the bullet and not do certain things?'
