There’s one thing I have always admired in Jonathan Saunders’ collections and that’s his innovative prints and his skills at transposing on a dress details from the paintings of French conceptual artists Daniel Buren, the architectures of Ettore Sottsass or the pure lines of Brancusi’s sculptures, turning his outfits into wearable works of art. Often using intriguing prints and manipulating the silhouette in a dynamic and inspiring way, Saunders has so far created perfectly tailored dresses. I loved the lines and bold colours of his Autumn 07 collection, but also the softer camel tones of the Autumn 08 dresses.
For the next Spring, Saunders has added to the stylish optimism of his Resort 09 collection a higher degree of glamour and sophistication and he has done so through the use of colour. With a chromatic splendour created by bright colours and shiny fabrics, Saunders has indeed produced imaginative effects.
Colours turn into the absolute protagonists of this collection highlighting the geometrical lines and the feminine details of the outfits. Rigidly cut shiny cotton sateen jackets with a slightly militaristic cut and in acid colours are paired with fluid chiffon skirts; ample and opulent kimono jackets with rows of ruffles below the waist seem to be sculpted on the body; simple ballerina-like dresses are decorated with post-modernist cut out motifs around the neck.
Heavy prints are avoided, but different nuances of violet, cornflower blue, green and yellow seem to be splashed on flowing chiffon dresses while large geometries evoking Sonia Delaunay’s 1954 “Rythme sons fin” adorn long dresses and colourful prints – crossovers between Thayaht’s abstract drawings and dynamic Gann angles – contribute to give a graphic energy to the outfits. Saunders also reinterpreted his colour-blocked floor-length dresses turning them into lighter and more linear versions of his original models that attracted the attention of fashion critics and buyers in the past.
Saunders recently did a collection for mass retailer Target’s GO International line. Though it wasn’t unanimously acclaimed, it must be said that the designer has admirably managed to reuse some of the themes from his Autumn 07 collection, re-employing them for practical and affordable versions of his more expensive creations.
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