THE LIFE AND STYLE OF PETER JOHN

Chatting toPeter John (Pete) about his attitude towards lifestyle at ‘The Friends Café in OldStreet - just a few doors down from his apartment, and a few more from his studio - inspired me. A substantial military career, and a vocation change to fashion design inhis 30s, have given him a unique outlook on life, and sharing food is anintegral element.

If you wereto follow the Derby born creatives Instagram, you’d see that he and his friendshost dinner together near daily, pasted quasi-candidly across their accounts; happenings lit aesthetically chiaroscuro style in the way only a group oflike-minded artists and designers could. Steak Tatar and croutons paired with garlicbutter bathed roasted asparagus and broccoli is a common sight, as are Mediterraneanpasta dishes, though Pete tries to limit his carbs nowadays. It wasclear that the food wasn’t the primary driver for these dinners. The37-year-old spent sixteen years in the parachute regiment, one of Britain’smost elite fighting forces. When I asked him if he thought this was why hehosted so often, he paused “I hadn’t thought about that. You’re spending allday with your mates, and then eating together”. Covid 19 also had a part toplay, when restaurants were closed Pete and his closest friends missed theexperience of dining out, so they began dining in. His dinner parties now are acontinuation of routines established during lock-down.

Thedesigners career change is a recent one, with his namesake label Studio PeterJohn launching just this year, supported by his social circle of fellowdesigners Cole Buxton, Jonny Wilson and jeweler Henry Goodfellow. “Goodfriends make a good dinner party” Pete tells me. Marco Pierre White once said,“The mostimportant aspect of any restaurant is the environment you sit in”, which feels particularly applicable here. Our Lifestyles aren’t just about what we do,or how what we’re doing looks, but about who we surround ourselves with.Sharing food with the people we love, crafting your environment with goodfriends, and doing so often seems to me to be a great lifestyle. “I was talking to Henry, and I said we don’t host that much, do we? And he said... well yeah, we do”.