Petar Petrov likes to see his clothes outside. For the last few seasons he has shot his lookbook in different outdoor areas of Vienna, where he lives, and this season, to further push the feeling of reality, all his models were photographed seemingly mid-errand. Here’s a woman running to pick up milk in a desert sand-colored tailored skirt suit and halter bodysuit; here’s another crossing the street in a semi-sheer off-white knit skirt and blouson bomber jacket carrying the newspaper or her arm. The last one has gone to pick up the dry cleaning in a black version of the halter bodysuit, worn with a textured rib knit skirt. It suits the label because above all, Petrov makes clothes for real life.
“This season we tried to do a fresh offering on our tailoring as it’s at the core of the brand—which began with menswear,” he said on a recent Zoom from his Paris showroom where he was gearing up for appointments. Take the opening look, a suit-inspired dress in a textural hemp, silk and viscose blend, worn underneath an oversized jacket in the same fabric. The double jacket effect adds a playful touch to an otherwise simple proposal. So did another suit in charcoal; an easy double breasted jacket and matching pleated high waist trousers, which he paired with an elongated waistcoat-dress for an elegant take on formal dressing. The same waistcoat-dress is later shown with a pair of pink trousers instead for a sportier look. (The model gives the impression she’s coming from the gym despite the fact that she’s wearing heels with a fringed detail.) Designers love to talk about how they’re thinking about women’s wardrobes, but the fact that Petrov loves to show different ways of wearing the same garment in his lookbook is proof that he’s not just thinking but doing.
“When we do women’s clothes, I always think about the more essential pieces, not so decorated,” he added. “The material dictates the design, and for summer it’s always interesting to figure out how to create lightness and add texture at the same time.” There are no unnecessary embellishments in his clothes, yet they aren’t wholly undecorated; rather Petrov adds emotion by the way he drapes the fabric, by seeing the way the fabric moves. Like the yellow striped maxi wrap dress in a textured silk where the stripes moving in different directions added a certain dynamism, or the simple ribbed knit long T-shirt dress with an asymmetrical seam at the leg that preceded a slit.
