Piet SS20 & In Conversation with founder Pedro Andrade

All eyes on the Brazilian menswear brand, Piet. Dropping a fusion of functional and stylish pieces, Piet takes inspiration from industrial design and diverse cultures hailing from the country of Brazil. The up-and-coming brand has already collaborated with big-time names such as Nike, Budweiser, and Champion. As the brand quickly gains a strong following, we catch up with Piet’s founder, Pedro Andrade to learn more about the brand itself, the creative scene in São Paulo, being an environmentally responsible company, and what’s next for Piet. 

The editorial also features an exclusive shoot with Marquel Williams shot in L.A. as he showcases some of our favorite pieces from the Piet S/S 2020 collection. Scroll to learn more and see the collection.

Would you say your studies in industrial design highly influence your designs? What else do you draw inspiration from? 

Industrial Design always helped me to find smart and functional solutions to the products. My inspirations come from places and personal experiences. From my childhood in the countryside of São Paulo to the Korean neighborhood in São Paulo where Piet is based, from the industrial design to the brazilian artistic movements. It’s all about emotions.

How is the fashion and creative scene in São Paulo? Are there traces of São Paulo in your collections? 

It’s definitely unique. São Paulo is a crazy concrete jungle and the contrast is really heavy.Not even São Paulo, but Brazil is a country of diversity. There’s so many different cultures over here, it’s a mix of everything, and of course that influences me a lot when I’m creating. 

Your collections combine elegance, tailoring and streetwear seamlessly. Who are you designing for when drawing up pieces?

We don’t have a specific target. I believe that weS design for who’s looking for more than a clothing brand. It’s for those people who want something to connect with, to believe, it’s more of a lifestyle.

Tell us about your production process. 

Obviously we start with a huge moodboard. Every collection has a theme, so before starting to design, me and my team study a lot each theme. I don’t like to create on the computer, I don’t believe that much in Pinterest you know what I mean? I believe in drawings, books, notes, registers, museums and people.  I’m kind of an old fashion designer, so after studying a lot, we start the sketches and paintings in our atelier. We have our own factory at the same place, so we can control all the manufacturing process right after the sketches, making our work much easier, agile and efficient.

What makes your patterning methods so unique? 

Product is what I’m constantly worried about most. So I’m always trying to bring the methods and techniques I learned in Industrial Design University to create something original.

Can you describe Piet in 5 words?

Young, Funny, Cozy, Sophisticated and Brazilian

What is a typical day at work like for you?

10% Designing 90% solving problems lol

What about your designs do you think resonates so strongly with streetwear lovers? What does streetwear mean to you?
Honestly I don’t believe in the term “streetwear“. If you think about the name Streetwear, you will realize that it is basically a product that is worn in the streets, so every brand is a streetwear brand because everybody is wearing the product out in the streets. I believe people like to use Piet because it’s fresh, easy and functional. We also have always some ”sense of humor“ in our creations, especially on prints.

Piet has collaborated with Nike, Rider, NBA, Budweiser, Champion, among others. What’s next for Piet? What or who is your dream collaboration?

Collaborations definitely became part of Piet’s DNA so we are always trying to find nice people and brands to design to work on collabs with. When I think about collaborations I always ask myself two questions: Is it missing on Piet’s “wardrobe”? Does it make sense with Piet’s lifestyle? If the answer is ’’Yes’’, we will work on it. I can’t say the names of our next collaborations but there’s a lot of great stuff going on.

Who would you love to see dressed in Piet?

I would love to see Gilberto Gil dressed in Piet.

What is it like for Piet to be gaining recognition? What’s next for Piet?

It’s awesome! No sad history at all, but honestly, being a fashion designer in Brazil it’s quite a resistance so I’m very glad to see where we are today. I am very thankful for everybody that believed in the brand since day one. Now we are focused on improving our sustainable methods of manufacturing, caring not only about textiles but about being a responsible company, with transparency and social responsibility. Fashion is a tricky and unpredictable business but we believe that people want to have an emotional connection with the brands, and we were born this way.