Petar Petrov has built a strong business on his understanding of how his women friends think about building their wardrobes. Essentially, it revolves around lightweight suiting—which holds its shape and strikes a confident balance between offhand ease and formality—and dresses and blouses cut with a complex fluidity. As a designer who has developed both sophisticated tailoring and draping skills under one roof, in his beautiful work-space apartment in Vienna, he habitually considers things in the round: how a woman is seen from every angle, how she moves through her professional life and deals with social settings.
What that means is that front, back, and side views are critical to his work—the mobile flow of his scarf-like dresses in particular, which show skin but don’t risk wardrobe malfunctions. This time, he’s worked in jersey and leather as well, a shade Azzedine Alaia, but a touch tougher. Meanwhile, his summer collection ticks all the boxes of the tailoring trend, adding Bermuda shorts to the mix and a play on masculine ties, for example.
But, we’ve said this before: Such qualities need an airing in movement, in public, to be fully appreciated. Petrov has taken that urging on board—next season he’s planning a London presentation to boost his profile to the next level. Good news.
