“I wear it like this,” said Johanna Parv at a preview, hands placed carefully on her abdomen, as she exhibited the many ways you can use one of her new “waist-back” bags. Last season, models did similar on the runway, adhering to Parv’s instructions. “I always pose like this when I try things on,” she said, laughing. “I’ve been researching the 1950s too much.” (Norman Parkinson’s photographs of women wearing skiwear were a starting point for fall.) One way to carry said new accessory––debuted amidst multiple new styles and fresh colorways of her bestselling shapes––is like a tote bag, with a handy strap secured around the waist to stop it from slipping off the shoulder. Perfect for cycling after a grocery run.
Some designers solve a problem, some none at all, but Parv works out several in one bold sweep. Problems you don’t even know you have. Because of course it makes sense for breathable mesh to be inserted into garments beyond the realm of performance wear, ditto the addition of grippy dots to ensure the longevity of a trouser hem that could get worn over time, or reflective strips for both aesthetic and safety purposes. “Why not?” Parv surmised of her clever functional feats.
“It’s much more unisex, somehow,” she said of her fall line-up and the fact that her male customer base is growing. Parv consistently balances the intersections of “traditional” womenswear and menswear, which stirs a unique mood each season, but when honing in on specific pieces, it’s clear who exactly in her community she’s speaking to. The designer brought back her technical trousers––which, on a hanger, retain slightly bent knees––and by contrast, there were more directional trousers and skirts with a new expandable waistband.
Interpretations of her take on “femininity” arrived as capped-sleeve dresses with zipped slits at the back and a fitted jacket and matching trousers realized in pinstriped wool, with triangular reinforced cut-out cuffs to work well with heeled boots. “Imagine a warm-up tracksuit that you take off before doing sport––you could wear it to the office too,” she said. The same goes for the unisex-leaning designs: wool jackets with zipped slits at the top of elongated darts that sit on the collar bone, a funnel-neck jacket in a brown shade seen throughout the collection and lycra tops with short pointed collars plucked from her MA collection, marking the first time she has referenced it directly since graduating. “Someone who I trust said that they keep thinking about this collar and thought it was a really interesting construction,” she said. In the studio, Parv also showed a super-soft sample of a long-sleeved top made from a material blend that contains seaweed––but it might be too expensive to go into production. “That would be my dream, to do these kinds of fabrics,” she said.
As ever, Parv was at the heart of every piece, which made for highly refined and considered wardrobe staples. She’s tried it all on––probably with hands on hips––moved in it, developed it, shown it to her inner circle. “I only wear my own stuff now,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what else to wear otherwise.”
