POP 395 Monday 13 September 2010

Today's POP is Ben, manning it up in NYC.

The PETROU/MAN S/S 2011 presentation at Soho House on Saturday was a boy’s own adventure in wonderland. Models wearing relaxed lightweight suiting supped tea, played board games, and eyed up a party spread of cream cakes, pastries and pick ‘n’ mix served in sugar bowls. The understated functional influences and subtle ethnic patterns of the collection lending it an outdoors feel that jarred perfectly with their stuffy surroundings.

POP cornered designer Nicolas Petrou – busy working a miracle: transforming the Velcro walking sandal into an object of desire – at his Garment District studio during the run-up to New York Fashion Week.

POP: Do you feel like your work has its own handwriting, or trademark aesthetic that you could put into words?
NP: PETROU\MAN is about precise tailoring, technique, manipulation of fabric and an immense love for what I do. PETROU\MAN is the vault for my passion and dedication and a recipient of both. I’m always striving to offer something new, exciting, yet wearable.

POP: Textural contrasts and fabric mixes are a constant theme running through your work, what is it that excites you about the materials you use? Where does this obsession with surface come from?
NP: While I was studying at St Martin’s I always collaborated on different projects with textile students and that was such an inspiration. To know how the actual fabric was made, and the possibilities of the different textures and combinations of materials we could create, was an amazing experience. There was no end to what you could achieve.

POP: The spring/summer collection has an off-kilter preppy feel, madras checks and outdoors influences balanced with subtle ethnic touches, what inspired your use of patchworked patterns and colour-blocking?
NP: Like in every PETROU\MAN collection, it all starts from my enormous love for all the different cultures of the world, their traditions, fabrics and environment. From Asia, to Africa to Eastern or Western Europe to America and the Middle East, the traditional uniforms and the fabrics are just mesmerizing. I don’t think my influence comes from one particular place and I think that is apparent by the clothes I create. The combinations and color-blocking comes from my immense interest in texture and proportions and how to alter them to create a newer silhouette with interesting surfaces and visual stimulations.

POP: You use chambray in a very clean, very sharp way – giving it a less casual, more refined feel – is this luxurious direction the way you see denim's versatility increasingly headed in the future?
NP: We are a company that obviously cannot or wants to compete with the numerous denim brands that are out there. But we are looking for ways to approach denim in a way that feels fresh, or unexpected. That’s what gives our customers reason to buy PETROU\MAN.

POP: Does the crumpled feel of the collection highlight a more lightweight and comfortable, lifestyle-inspired approach to summer tailoring?
NP: I think it has to do with the reality of our times and my taste. If a jacket I bought looked stiff or old or too classic, I would throw it in the washing machine and then dryer. The results are amazing…most of the time… So, with the SS 2011 collection as well as the previous one, we washed everything and then dried it in high heat to transform the shapes. It’s a long process but so worth it.

POP: Sophisticated seam placements and panelling update your shirting and suiting with a technical, almost ergonomic edge that hints at the influence of bespoke tailoring – do you feel most comfortable when working with classic tailoring techniques?
NP: I studied and understand the classic tailoring techniques and that is why I am able to depart from them or manipulate them in order to create something different, whether is fit, feel or texture. For example, I really don’t believe that a winter suit jacket should feel like woollen armour, with heavy linings. With all the advances in technology, I want a ‘winter’ wool jacket that is light and comfortable, with even half lining so I can wear it inside… And that is why we like to revisit and re-examine old practices and thoughts.

POP: How important are the elements of hand-finishing and traditional craftsmanship in your work?
NP: The fact that I actually touch and work on every garment that leaves the studio is such an important factor in what this label stands for. The collections are sewn and worked on by local artisans who really have a deep love for what they do and all the hand work is done locally, and a lot of the times here at the PETROU\MAN studio. This is not a mass produced label.

POP: What do you find most exciting about menswear at the moment? And what is the most disappointing? 
NP: The fact is menswear is gaining so much momentum at the moment. There is such an amazing movement of all these new menswear brands showing every season. It’s definitely exciting. The disappointing part is that it doesn’t move as fast as I would like it to move.

POP: Who have been your favorite people to work with so far, and who would you love to collaborate with given the chance?
NP: Robbie Spencer at Dazed & Confused styled my two previous presentations and he will be styling S/S 2011 when we show the collection in New York. I believe he’s an amazing talent with a very promising future. His work is just phenomenal. I also worked with Nicola Formichetti on a couple of projects for Gaga. He’s brilliant and a key force to what is happening in menswear right now. He influenced so many people with his work and vision and he keeps pushing the boundaries with his amazing and unique ways. At some point I would love to see Steven Klein photograph my work as I just love his art, and would also be honoured to collaborate with Nick Cave, the fine artist who creates the most amazing sculptures – an influence on my work.

POP: How have you seen the influence of the internet impact on the fashion industry? Is it something you have embraced personally – do you have your own blog, Twitter account, etc?  
NP: The internet has been pivotal in how fast information travels and how people can share or exchange ideas in no time. There are blogs right now that get more hits in a day than magazines sell in a month, so there is no doubt how powerful and how important these bloggers are. PETROU\MAN has been featured on some of the most important of these blogs and we really appreciate their enormous support, especially at times when a new brand has no advertising budgets.

POP: How do you see the future of menswear evolving, is it all about comfort and technology, or will tradition always have a strong part to play?
NP: Of course is always good to understand and embrace tradition but in my mind there is no doubt that technology will always prevail, in any field. Comfort will always be a key factor in clothes and their construction, as I can’t imagine anyone wanting to go back to feeling uncomfortable or restrained in any garment.

POP: What’s inspiring you outside of the fashion industry right now?
NP: Everything and everyone around me has always inspired my work. A lover, a friend, a stranger, a book, a movie, a photograph, a painting, a place, a tribe, a culture, a song, an artist, a village, a city, a view… The list is really endless.

POP: What are you looking forward most to working on next?
NP: It’s so exciting to me that this has only been my second selling season and some of the best and most important designer stores in the world believed in my vision and product and bought the collection. I am looking forward to exploring more possibilities in my work and always try and offer the best I can so this brand can grow and I can turn my dream into a reality.