Group chats have long been a hidden backbone of global brands, big and small. Email threads are too fussy—it’s easier to communicate bike seat stand measurements down to the millimeter, with accompanying doodled-upon photographs, for example, over WhatsApp. To the uninitiated, this may not seem a natural topic for a designer in the throes of London fashion week prep. But it’s pretty standard dialogue for Johanna Parv (she made bike seats for guests to sit on at the show, in collaboration with Selle Royal). She is, of course, a renowned biking enthusiast, which translates to her clothes each season. At a preview, the designer showed not only her fall collection—the pictures of which were splayed out on a high table as models arrived for the casting—but also these niche picture exchanges. Studio full capacity, Parv’s brain high velocity. Still, she remained unfazed and ready to direct all her attention to whatever was necessary in that moment: talking about the collection one minute, assessing the damage on a toppled rail the next. Beautiful chaos.
Post rail collapse, talk shifted to a fitted jacket and trousers made from soft nylon, a look that subsequently opened the show. She beckoned over a model, who was conveniently dressed in the very look she wanted to discuss. “Everything is ergo[nomic]. Ergo, ergo, ergo.” Convenient storage was attached to the lower back; the front zip was concealed. Parv crouched to imitate the stretch that the trouser cuffs allowed, then encouraged the model, who then adopted the same position. A pair of flared trousers with a built-in skirt (a carryover style) were indeed true to her ergonomic efficiency.
The journey through this collection had only just begun. “You’ll notice there are tights over trousers,” she said, and looked knowingly. This reporter did notice—the grasp of sheer stockings on ankles added a unique kind of sexiness. It was a flourish directly inspired by a woman Parv saw pushing her bike along; suited up, trousers tucked, tote bag worn as a backpack. Almost more “Johanna Parv” than anything Parv herself could conjure in her head. “It was so simple, so inspiring,” she said.
The designer has established such a handwriting that although her work spans a vast range, it remains recognizable. For fall, such variety included a skirt inspired by one her mother made from men’s trousers; a quilted jacket; a water-repellent car coat; a molten tank dress punctuated with breathable holes; and “easy-going” base-layer hoodies, which have been bestsellers. These were loose-fitting, but on the whole streamlined forms grounded the silhouettes this season. Some looks were cinched with smooth leather buckle-less belts, pierced with triangular holes. “It’s more a story of the waist,” she explained of her commuter muse. There’ll be plenty more cycling the streets come fall.
