Petar Petrov is building his brand with painstaking precision of the most personal sort. “I want to create an emotion for myself, and then hopefully that will create an emotion with the customer,” the Vienna-based designer said at an appointment in Paris. His first ironclad rule: “No compromises.” He was referring both to his brand’s silhouettes—sharp and structured tailoring mixed with some diaphanous draping—and meticulous choice of materials. “The fabric has to dictate the design,” he said. “If it’s a knit, it should be an amazing cashmere; if it’s a blouse, it should be amazing silk.”
There were plenty of them in the offering, which also featured a loose military focus and suits for day. He pointed to a jacket with strong shoulders that was nipped in at the waist just so. “That gives you an oversize feeling, but you don’t get lost in the jacket,” he said. Little details are another Petrov particular. See the lemon chiffon blouse with its little neck scarf; the top buttonhole fit precisely in that stitch between collar and shirt.
Highlights included an oxblood leather wrap skirt, a dusty rose alpaca robe coat, a copper bell-sleeved shearling, and a series of ribbed cashmere knits in a pale blue-green shade Petrov had named, with poetic precision, “oyster.” Also, the fluid “wrap” silk or dévoré dresses, whose “wrap” amounted to the slightest pulling effect at the front courtesy of two small silk ties. Following Georgina Grenville, last season’s lookbook star, Petrov called in Tasha Tilberg, the 39-year-old Canadian model. “We like to have models the age of the customer,” he said once again, a smart thing to stay particular about.
