Knits, Prints and Colours: Koi Suwannagate, Boy by Band of Outsiders, Jeremy Laing, Jonathan Saunders |

There has been something that has deeply annoyed me about these first days of New York Fashion Week and that's the lack of anything extremely striking, original or bearing some connections with the world of art. This is why I felt much better when I saw Koi Suwannagate’s knitwear pieces.

While rosette and a few ruffles gave a romantic touch to an ample cape, sweaters and cardis with long or shorts sleeves or to sleeveless and soft cardigans with matching long fingerless gloves,
there were also a few pieces with some interesting graphic motifs inspired by the work of one of the pioneers of the classical avant-garde, Swiss artist, painter and sculptor Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

Sophisticated geometric abstraction appeared on some pieces, such as a cashmere jacket with quilted geometric motifs or a cardigan with argyle patterns on the shoulders and around the waist in an Autumnal palette. The cropped tops were matched with beautifully cut slim stretch trousers that contributed to create an elongated silhouette.

There was definitely less originality in the knitwear from Scott Sternberg’s line for young women, Boy by Band of Outsiders, yet at the same time there was definitely high-quality as Sternberg has recently teamed up with a historical Italian mill.

Though the ubiquitous rugby striped cardigans were still present, this time they were layered with other garments, yet the emphasis was on relaxed lines that verged towards menswear, with a touch of luxury added thanks to an occasional fur jacket.

I must admit that Band by Outsiders' menswear collection was probably more original, with interesting suits characterised by short and rather squarish jackets, though the classic camel coats were definitely the best pieces.

Geometry was the keyword at Jeremy Laing, especially in his dresses and coats with leather inserts, sleeves or shoulders.

Too many of Laing’s designs looked perfect for William Gibson’s sensual cyborgs, though, and the designer luckily tried to balance the equation by adding a few dresses with striking prints.

Prints of flames on ethereal dresses worn with see-through leggings and of stars going supernova on long gowns created fascinating effects and made you wish the designer had concentrated more on this side of the collection than on rigid and excessively structured lines.

Jonathan Saunders has already proved in his previous collections he has a true, and maybe rare, talent for mastering colours and prints.

His graphic blocks and kaleidoscopic prints, sometimes inspired by art, have so far enchanted many fashion critics and fashionistas at previous fashion weeks and, at yesterday's show, Saunders managed again to charm his fans.

The Autumn 09 collection by the Scotland-born designer who has won the attention of the global fashion world in just a few years, was probably one of the few really worth mentioning among the ones seen so far at New York Fashion Week.

This time Saunders moved from birds as the main inspiration for his designs, a theme you could have probably guessed by looking at the structure of some of his coats.
A bird's wings are usually supported by its shoulders and therefore emphasis was given in Saunders’ outerwear to this part of the body.

In some cases the fabric around the shoulders was carefully multi-layered creating sharp silhouettes, in others it was gathered in ample folds of fabric, almost evoking the sleeves of the dress worn by Titian’s La Bella.

Cut-outs formed interesting geometrical motifs on body-con mini-dresses, beautiful evening gowns were given a sculptural flavour around the décolletage, while Saunders' signature prints – among them zigzag patterns in yellow, red and blue, prints of feathers and multi-coloured abstract graphics, all highlighted by the black colour used as background in some of the dresses and as the main colour for the head stockings worn by all the models – appeared on most of the outfits from this powerfully fascinating collection.