Who is Peter Dundas? Meet the designer behind Mary J Blige's Super Bowl performance outfit

Mary J. Blige might not be a quarterback, but she definitely had a standout moment at the Super Bowl LVI last night, courtesy of Peter Dundas.

The moment wasn't related to sports but fashion, when the Grammy Award-winning singer took center stage during the halftime show in a custom outfit by Peter Dundas. She went on to perform her hit singles No More Drama and Family Affair.

This year's Super Bowl, which took place at the SoFi stadium, had five headliners - Eminem, Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak also made a small appearance at the show.

Peter Dundas worked closely with Mary J. Blige and her stylist to create a custom look for last night's halftime show at the Super Bowl. He created a two-piece set crop top with matching shorts in white and silver mirror embellished material. He also created thigh-high boots to go with the costume.

In an interview with WWD, Peter explained his approach to the Super Bowl outfit for Mary:

“I approached the outfit thinking about dressing such an icon that Mary is. I thought about what I associate with her and I knew that especially for stage wear, I want the person to feel like the outfit is part of them and their identity."

The dress took inspiration from French sculptor Niki de Saint Phaelle. Dundas laser-cut the mirror in a leopard animal pattern so that he could give a "snow leopard" illusion to Blige.

“I thought [the mirrors] worked really well with Mary because she pulls so much on your heartstrings with singing about things that you kind of identify with yourself. She almost becomes a reflection of the audience as well."

Peter Dundas will release an NFT with a team from Dressx for the singer's custom look, marking his first venture into the digital fashion world.

“Anyone can acquire the outfit digitally and wear it through the metaverse. I think for me as a brand that outreach with my work is massively exciting. It feels like a whole new dimension that’s added to the designs and to my brand."

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Who is Peter Dundas?

Peter Hyde Dundas was born to a Norwegian family in Oslo, Norway, on 19 December, 1969. Unfortunately, he lost his mother to influenza at the young age of four.

He was discovered by a casting director in 1978 at the age of 9, after which he embraced his designing side and spent 3 years on stage. He moved to Indiana with his family at the age of 14 in 1983 and lived with mother's relatives. Soon after he graduated from high school, he decided to move to New York city to attend the reputed Parsons School of Design.

After graduating from fashion school in 1990, he immediately joined Comedie Française in Paris as his assistant costume designer. Peter climbed the ladder rather quickly and became an assistant designer under Jean Paul Gaultier. He was so fascinated with his work that he served under him for 8 years.

He has been a part of many fashion labels in his career, including Christian Lacroix in 2000, Roberto Cavalli from 2002-2005, Emanuel Ungaro in 2005-2007, Dolce & Gabbana 2007, and Revillon from 2008-2010.

He finally joined Emilio Pucci as an artistic director in October 2008 and held the position for 7 years before he started his own label, Dundas, with his life and business partner, Evangelo Bousis, in 2017.

Evangelo and Peter extended their family as they welcomed their son, Alexios Pete, through surrogacy in 2021.