Jonathan Saunders
REVIEW
COMPLETE COLLECTION
LONDON, September 20, 2004
By
In a season when fashion is loving prints (especially the retro floral variety), there's a window open for designers who can do something absolutely new and surprising with pattern—especially if it involves a lovely dress or two. Jonathan Saunders, at 26, is jumping at that opportunity with a collection that took its cue, he said, from the Bauhaus movement.Sound grim? The stark geometry of the classic German art-house aesthetic normally looks better on furniture and posters than clothes. Mercifully, however, Saunders is not a literalist. He melded bold lines, circles, and a palette of monochromes, teal, blue, orange, and yellow into shapes—simple tanks and fluted skirts, to start with—that flatter the body. His optical effects—in printing, burnt-out, or intarsia knit—may be technically impressive, but the clever part is the way he combines them with a feel for sexy wearability.
Learning from his mistakes of last season—a rewind to severe eighties power-dressing—Saunders went back to fluidity for his finale. That produced a sequence of floor-sweeping looks that came across as great options for young red-carpet dressing.
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