Disposition and geography set Vienna’s Petar Petrov brand apart, and its founder and designer likes it that way. Distance from the four major fashion cities can create some logistical hurdles, but it allows Petrov the freedom to devise his own system of working with little interference and perhaps a less myopic viewpoint. “Fashion,” said the designer on a call, “is not a big topic here.” Architecture, on the other hand always has been, and this season the lookbook was photographed in Looshaus, an exemplar of Viennese Modernism built in 1912 by Adolf Loos, who around the same time published an essay called “Ornament and Crime,” in which the architect argued that progress went hand-in-hand with the removal of decoration from useful objects.
Petrov is also keen on the elimination of frou-frou in the interest of best serving his client. His work is exact (see those linear pencil skirts) but not cold, and the sensuality of the materials and fit (see the luxe leather and deep pile of the corduroy in the opening look) cannot be described as being classically minimal. “I like this feeling of it’s nothing but it is something,” said the designer, who this season dreamed up dresses that wrap around the body and are secured by a single fastening. Petrov also focused on circular cuts that resulted in both cocoon-y outerwear with attitude—“these organic shapes feel quite nice on the body.” he noted—and unexpectedly perky skating-style miniskirts. More languid were dresses and tops with long scarves that can be neatly wrapped or left to move freely as the wearer, or the wind does. Draped body-hugging tops can be pulled over the head to create an aerodynamic hood, which is particularly useful, the designer noted, for winter cyclists. Grunge-style plaids in the form of a boyfriend shirt and a chic coat added a welcome sense of ease to a sophisticated collection that, as always, brought elements of masculine tailoring into play.
One of Petrov’s self-set challenges for fall was to align form and function with a woman’s identity as expressed through what she wears. The designer said his job is not to create clothes that are symbols of wealth, but that enhance and enable women’s lives. “It’s quite an interesting social moment for us in fashion to understand what the real values are, and what they are for us,” he said. He’s loath to describe Petar Petrov as “a luxury brand because I think luxury is something that doesn’t sound very sexy; I think it’s a lot of status symbols and with this collection I was thinking that you define luxury with your identity” rather than your bank account.
As the luxury sector grapples with new economic realities, positioning has become a subtopic of the season. There’s no consensus, really, on how to speak about, or categorize, brands that aren’t luxury/heritage or high street. Fashion’s not alone in ignoring the middle, “in politics—everywhere—the middle is weak at the moment,” Petrov noted. He’s countering this state of affairs by honing his vision, sticking to his principles, and celebrating personal expression. “What you wear is who you are,” said the designer. “At the moment everything is quite democratic in a way because you can choose from different styles and put it together in different ways. What I love is when clothes are not that complicated, and they give you this ease and attitude.” This collection was full of just those sorts of designs.
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